No One Is Alone
by jackiechica
Summary: Draco is able to recover from a summer event with the help of someone he'd never expect...a Gryffindor. But will Ron's jealosy get in the way? Chapter 8: The Adventure Begins...Draco's not so sure about Muggle travel...
1. Chapter 1: The End

Jackie:  Okay, this is definitely not my normal realm, but this needed to be written.

(Silence)

            Jackie:  Agent Blorange?  Where are you, you're supposed to have the second line all the time!

            (Offstage voice):  Not in a Harry Potter story, not in a million years!  Leave me out of this!

            Draco-muse:  What a jerk.

            Takeru-muse:  Okay, who's this poser?

            Draco-muse:  Allow me to introduce myself.  The name's Malfoy.  Draco Malfoy.

            Takeru-muse:  That's nice.  Jackie, why is he a muse?

            Jackie:  There's enough room for both of you.  Anyways, as you might be able to tell, this is my first HP story, and it centers on a certain blonde-haired smartass whom we all know and love.  I don't own Harry Potter.  J.K. Rowling does.  I do, however, own all rights to my original character, Jacquillyne Christine Ashmore.  If I find you using her name or likeness without permission, there will be money involved.

            Draco-muse:  Yeah, a whole quarter's worth.

            Takeru-muse:  Jaa-ckieee, make him drop the muse thing!

            Jackie:  You're still my main muse, Takeru, calm down and just enjoy the story.  That goes for you, too, and don't forget to R&R!

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            "YOU ARE A DISGRACE TO THIS FAMILY, YOUNG MAN!"

            "WELL, MAYBE IF YOU DIDN'T HAVE SUCH IMPOSSIBLE EXPECTATIONS FOR ME..."

            "THAT'S IT!  AFTER THIS SUMMER IS OVER, YOU ARE NO LONGER WELCOME IN THIS HOUSE!"

            "FINE!"

            The door slammed behind Draco Malfoy as he escaped into his room.  Well, what used to be his room.  This, in his opinion, was a scene more befitting of Potter's home, not his.  He sighed.  "I can't say I wasn't expecting this, though."

            Draco's 5th year at Hogwarts hadn't gone very well grade-wise; although he passed everything, he was nowhere near the top of his class anymore.  To add insult to injury, Granger was at the top.  Lucius had been on Draco's case ever since his grades fell into his hands, one lecture after another.  Finally, he started fighting back, and, well...

            "Bloody hell, where am I going to go now?  I don't exactly know, or like, anyone well enough to go crash at their house.  I can't get a job, because I'll be at school...Good one, Malfoy, just yell at your crazy father..." He flopped backwards on his bed, staring up at the ceiling.  His eyes scanned the room that had been his since he was born; the familiar moldings, the king-size bed, the bookshelves full of both schoolbooks and personal readings alike...all of which would be either gone or moved.  This was and had always been his familiar dwelling, the only place he really felt he really belonged.

            And in one flare of temper, he had lost it all.  Unconsciously, a single tear formed in the corner of his eye, and he quickly brushed it off and flipped onto his side.  Before long, he had fallen into a restless sleep.

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            September came faster than Draco would have liked.  His last week at home had been spent wandering aimlessly around the halls of the manner, fighting back old memories that rushed in at each spot.  He spent as much time as he could wandering around the grounds, mentally reliving happier moments as a child, before Hogwarts, before Potter, before his world had turned upside down.  Many times, it took all of Malfoy's strength just to hold back the tears that he often felt welling up in his eyes.  

            Malfoy left early the morning that he was to leave for Hogwarts.  He walked the whole way, starting out before the sun rose, just trying to take in all the sights and sounds of the morning.  His father had left a note with his things...Draco's personal belongings would be waiting for him at the platform when he returned next summer...don't bother coming home for Christmas, they wouldn't be there...and at the bottom, in her delicate handwriting, a few bits of motherly advice that Narcissa had probably slipped in after Lucius had left the room.  The words replayed time and again in his mind the whole journey.

            After several hours of walking (though it only felt like he'd been walking a few minutes), Draco finally reached the train station.  He sidled up to the barrier, pretended to lean against in to tie his shoe, and slid gently through.  Once on the other side, he looked around and the bustling platform 9 3/4.  Familiar faces rushed here and there, greeting one another.  A few lost looking ones were beginning to cling to one another, and he decided that they were the first years.  However, unlike the past 5 years, Crabbe and Goyle were nowhere to be found.  Draco assumed that their families had learned of Draco's disownment, and therefore had warned them away from him.  His suspicions were confirmed when the two hulks walked straight past him, with only a sideways leer in his direction.  Draco sighed, climbed on the train, and seated himself in the back of an empty car.

            Unfortunately, it didn't stay empty for long.  Much to Malfoy's dismay, who should stumble noisily into his compartment than the trio themselves.  Harry, who, instead of the short, skinny, dorky lad, was now a TALL, skinny, dorky (and slightly awkward) teenager...Ron, who, unlike his best friend, was actually starting to grow into his body, but still had that same blazing red hair...Hermione, the know-it-all prefect who still sported that frizzy poofball hairdo, only now it was pulled into a wild ponytail (A/N:  Sorry, all you D/Hr peoples...I love the pair too, but Hermione's not a sex goddess in this one) and...

            Hmm.  He'd never seen this girl before.  At first, she looked as though she might be some relative of Ron's from the back, but as she turned her head, he could tell that that glossy red-auburn hair wasn't that of a Weasley.  No, it was too straight, and too neat as it fell just at her shoulders, part slightly off-center but perfectly straight.  His eyes trailed down her back as she stood listening to the two boys argue about something frivolous.  Unlike Hermione and the other Hogwart's girls, this one actually had the makings of a beautiful young woman going on.  Her curves were soft and filling out in just the right places, at least that's what it looked like from the back.  Her skin was bronzed, a sign of time spent outdoors, not of race.  Also unlike Hermione, to whom she was now paying attention to, she hadn't changed into her Hogwart's robes yet, and he admired the way her dark jeans fit her almost perfectly, flaring at the bottom over a pair of what looked like Italian boots.  She had on a black peasant blouse, long sleeved, and very sheer.  He could just make out the lines of a brassiere underneath...

            She must have felt his eyes on her, because without warning, she turned and looked at him.

*Jackie's POV*

            Man, these three are boring.  I'm in a house full of _these_ braggarts?  Damn, I'm in for a long year.  And why does this Ron guy keep staring at my chest?  As if I don't notice it.  Harry...shut up.  No one cares about that dumb game.  I should have never told you I play Quidditch...Hermine, or whatever your name is...please, I didn't memorize the whole textbook before I came, and I don't want to be able to memorize it from listening to you recite it!  Oh well, just smile and nod, smile and nod...

            Wait, is someone else in here?  It feels like...oh! There is someone...in... here...damn!

*End POV*

            Jackie's eyes quickly assessed the quiet boy in the back of the compartment.  His blonde hair and silver-gray eyes were certainly striking, but not as striking as...other things.  He was wearing a pair of blue jeans and a black tee shirt under his open robes...her personal weakness.  She could see the outlines of muscles underneath the tight cotton, and could tell that he either worked out or played sports on a regular basis.  He caught her stare, and she inadvertently made eye contact...a habit that often did her more harm than good in meeting new people.  She could tell that he was slightly embarrassed, having been caught staring, but she flashed him a quick smile to show that she didn't mind.

*Draco's POV*

            Is she really smiling at me?  Wow, I thought she looked good from behind!  Oh man, she probably things I'm some sort of pervert, staring at her like that...

*End POV*

            The new girl's face gazing upon Draco's caused him to blush slightly, from both embarrassment and intrigue.  Her straight red hair flipped in to frame her round, girlish face.  Her eyes were strikingly blue, with dark rings circling the iris, giving her an exotic look.  She was wearing makeup; not a whole lot, but just enough.  A pinkish-tan eye shadow was highlighting her lids, and a just-dark-enough lip gloss added sparkle to her curved, round lips, which slid into a welcoming smile upon making eye contact.  Unconsciously, and quite uncharacteristically, Draco also found his mouth twitch into a soft smile in return.

            Unfortunately, Ron also chose that moment to discover the compartment's other occupant.  "Malfoy, what are you doing in here?"

            Draco's soft smile twisted into his trademark smirk.  "It took you that long to notice me, Weasley?  I've been here the whole time, or were you too busy lusting after Harry's arse to see that?"

            Harry walked over, stepping in front of Ron, and sat down next to Draco, to everyone's surprise.  "I can see why you're in such a snit, Malfoy.  After all, very few of us know what it feels like to be hated by your own family."  _Shit, how does he know?_ Ron also came and took a seat across from him.  "Yeah, Dad's told us.  Says that Lucius blew his top.  Shame."

            _Am I hearing things right, _Draco thought, _or are these two really being nice to me?_

"So, which are you choosing, Pansy's whorehouse or Azkaban?  You know, you'd fit in quite well at both places."

            Harry and Ron both burst out laughing at this latest witticism.  Draco's face quickly darkened into a scowl, and he felt his cheeks involuntarily flush.  "Fuck off, Potter," he muttered, and turned to stare out the window.

            He didn't look back until he had heard the compartment door open and slam shut, a sign that everyone had left.  Otherwise, he would have seen the reluctance on the new girl's face to follow the trio.  Instead, he fell into a spell of loneliness, and a single tear slid down his cheek.  He didn't even bother to brush it off.

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            Draco had fallen into a dreamless sleep, and woke with a start as the train came to a screeching halt.  He rubbed his eyes and trudged towards the exit.  Every step was more painful than the last, as more and more people took notice of him and every second a new pair of eyes was pointed in his direction.  He heard the whispers; news travels fast in the wizarding world, especially if your father is a particularly powerful and notorious figure.  Draco kept his eyes downcast, glad that his family wasn't here to see yet another disgrace to the Malfoy family name in his submissive posture, and avoided any and all contact with any of the gleaming lasers drilling through the back of his head.

            After what felt like the longest walk of his life, Draco stepped out of the harsh artificial light of the Hogwarts Express and into the cool moonlight that surrounded the castle.  To one side, he could hear the Golden Children of Gryffindor talking to Hagrid, but kept his eyes focused straight ahead.  Even so, he felt yet another pair of eyes follow him as he climbed aboard an empty coach.  From its window, he watched his former friends and acquaintances board the other coaches, avoiding the one with the blonde head and silver eyes peering out the back.

            "Hey."

            At the sound of another voice in his coach, Malfoy spun in his seat, his trance broken, barely avoiding hitting his head on the windowsill.  "Who the hell said you could sit in..."

            His voiced trailed off as hi found himself face to face with the same blue eyes and red hair that he had met on the train.

*Jackie's POV*

            Harry, Ron, and Hermione just introduced me to the gamekeeper here, Hagrid.  At least he's somewhat decent, unlike those three.  He didn't slam that blonde boy...Malfoy, is that his name?  That seems more like a surname, but that's all they call him.  Anyways, he wasn't insulting him, but he wasn't stopping them from doing it, either.  I feel sort of bad for him.  He looks...so lonely.

            Why is he always by himself?  I'm sorry, but those stories Harry and Ron have told me don't seem quite in sync with him.  Oh well, they can be hateful all they want; I'm going to see if he wants some company.

            There he is.  He seems so sad!  I wonder what's wrong.  There's no one else in the coach with him.  Maybe I'll try to talk to him...

            "Hey."  I say.  It's not the most articulate thing I've ever said, but I guess it's okay for a first greeting.  I must have surprised him, because he spun so fast he almost falls off the seat.  "Who the hell said you could sit in... here..." His voice trailed off and the last word was barely audible.  Wow, look at those eyes!  I've never seen anybody with eyes like those...they're so gorgeous...

*End POV*

*Draco's POV*

            "...here."  I can't even hear myself say the last word.  What's with her?  Why isn't she with her little Gryffindor buddies?  What does she want from me?

            Still, look at her...wow, those eyes, there's something deep behind those blue pools, it's almost like she can see through me.  "Um, sorry, I thought you were someone else." I mutter, hoping that the shadows in the car hide the redness that just flooded my face.

*End POV*

            "Um, sorry, I thought you were someone else." Draco said quietly.

            "That's alright.  So..."  There was an awkward silence between the two.  "Um, so, which house are you in?"  Jackie asked, hoping it was a gentle enough question.  

            Draco's face fell emotionless.  "Slytherin.  I'm surprised your little Gryffindor buddies didn't tell you that already." He turned and stared out the window again.

            "If you think that those three are my friends, you, sir, are sadly mistaken."  Jackie half-coughed, half-laughed.  Draco glanced back at her.  Jackie met his eyes.  "Are you okay?"  _Oh, yeah, great thing to say, Jackie jack-ass, of course he's not, you heard them talking!  _

            Draco scoffed.  "Oh yeah, I'm just great!  I'm having a grand old time!"

            Neither said anything the rest of the short journey up the mountain.  Draco noted, however, that instead of staring him down as the rest of the school had done, she kept her focus out the other window.  _Hmm, this one was taught manners...what am I saying, she's with Potter and them.  She's got something else going on in her mind..._

            As the coach halted and the doors swung open, Jackie stood up and began to climb out.  Before clearing the stairs, however, she turned and once again made eye contact with Draco.  "My name's Jackie, by the way.  What's yours?"

            "Draco. Draco Malfoy," he answered flatly.

            "Well, um...I'll see you."  Jackie said as she walked towards the castle.

            "Yeah." Draco's reply was lost in the dyne of the exiting students.

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            "Welcome back to another year at Hogwarts!"

            Draco sighed and leaned his head against his hand in preparation for another long Dumbledore speech.  The Sorting proceeded as usual, and even the little first years wouldn't sit next to Draco.  He was at the far end of the table, on the opposite side from the teachers, near the door.  His eyes were fixed on a crack in the Slytherin table, and he kept running his finger over its length, feeling the depth and breadth of it.  He could see clearly a gouge mark on the end, and knew that it was done by a bored student with a penknife.  _How one person can do so much damage with one action, I'll never be able to figure out._  As he ran his fingers along the edge, he felt the sharp sides gradually smooth out with friction and the oils from his hand.  It was almost like he was "healing" the table...

            "And now, if I could have everyone's attention, I have a very special announcement."

            Draco looked up casually, and he could almost hear half the room turn their heads away from him.  Dumbledore continued.  "As some of you have already noticed, we are missing our own Lavender Brown from the Gryffindor house."  There was some nodding in agreement, particularly from Seamus Finnigan.  "Miss Brown is Hogwart's ambassador in an international magic exchange program, and this year we are proud to host Miss Jacquillynne Ashmore, from Hiogatoah Institute in the United States."

            Draco's eyes shifted to the Gryffindor table, expecting to see the trio clapping her on the back for something she didn't even do, but was surprised to see her also seated apart from everyone else, and was staring down at the table, slightly blushing, and looking as though she would rather be anywhere but there at the moment.  _I know the feeling,_ Draco thought to himself.

            As if reading his mind, she looked up and stared straight into his eyes.  This time, Draco was the first one to let a smile creep across his face. She grinned back for a moment, and then was shocked to see the plates at the table fill with food.  Draco laughed quietly to himself before turning to his food.

            "What are you smirking about, Malfoy?  After all, it's not every wizard who goes from something to nothing over the summer."

            Draco snapped up to see Blaise Zabini sneering and his group of friends laughing.  In a swirl of robes, Draco stood up and glared down at the smaller boy.  He began to rise, but Draco turned on his heels and stormed out of the Great Hall.

            Jackie watched him leave, and her heart sank in his chest.  _His name is Draco...___

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Agent Blorange:  I don't like where this is going.

            Jackie: What happened to "Not in a million years?"

            Agent Blorange:  I got curious.  Do you hate the trio, or is someone on the rag or what?

            Draco-muse:  *Pulling out wand*  Watch it, muggle!

Jackie:  Draco, Agent Blorange may or may not be a muggle, we just have to wait and see.

Agent Blorange:  *Fingers crossed* Let me be a muggle, let me be a muggle…

Jackie:  Ignore him.  And as for the trio bashing, I don't hate them, no.  I am just trying to see how Draco and Jackie would perceive them, and neither one of them is quite their type.  But like I said in the story, I like Hermione at least.

            Takeru-muse:  That just sounds wrong.

            Draco-muse:  Shove it, hat boy.

            Takeru and Draco-muses:  IDEA!  (to each other) I THOUGHT OF IT FIRST!

            Jackie:  I know what you're thinking, and it's duly noted.  TTFN, and don't forget to Review!  I live for Reviews!

Draco-muse:  And so do I, if you catch my drift (HINT HINT!)


	2. Chapter 2: Losing Grip

            Jackie:  Why can't I ever get the million reviews other author's have?

            Agent Blorange:  Maybe because you suck...

            Draco-muse:  Don't EVEN say that, gay boy.

            Takeru-muse:  I hate do this, but I agree with no-tone over here.

            Jackie:  Anywayz...here's the second chapter.  There will be major sap here, I guarantee.

            Draco-muse:  And Trio-bashing, but if you've read the first chapter, you should know that by now.

            Takeru-muse:  It's also a very SHORT chapter, I've noticed.  What, losing speed already, Draco?

            Draco-muse:  It's Draco-MUSE, by the way, and why don't you go look at that file, Plot, why don't you?

            Takeru-muse:  *Pulling up file on laptop* Oh my God.

            Jackie:  We've been quite busy, I just have to supply the details.  Oh, yeah, I don't own Harry Potter.  Let's get that out of the way.  Now, please enjoy!

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Chapter 2:  Losing Grip

            Draco was curled up in a large chair in the Slytherin common room, staring vacantly into the crackling fire.  No one else was awake yet...very few 16 year olds were known to be awake at 3 a.m., even on a school day.  He'd had a lot of trouble sleeping at night lately, and his housemates weren't making things any easier.  He had no one to talk to, no one to confide in, and no one to even relate to anymore.  Staring into the fire, the flames almost seemed to flicker from orange-yellow, to almost a...a...

            "Red auburn," he whispered, wondering what made him classify the flames as a hair color.  Slowly, a face started to emerge in the back of his mind...a face with red-auburn hair and piercing blue eyes.

            "No, I can't think about her.  I screwed that up on the first day.  Besides, she's a Gryffindor, and I'm...no, that shouldn't even matter!  What am I saying?  It's always mattered before.  Why not now..."

            "Malfoy, what are you doing out of bed again?"

            Draco glanced over his shoulder to see the Potions-master and head of Slytherin House, Snape, staring at him from the doorway.  "I couldn't sleep.  I don't believe that I'm harming anyone."  Draco fought to keep the submissive tone he had adopted out of his voice, but it was a losing battle.  "Well, maybe if you would sleep when you were supposed to, you could keep awake in your classes, or are we going to have a repeat of last year's miserable marks?"  Snape's voice was cold and icy, and Malfoy knew that his father's influence had reached even his favorite teacher and turned him into an enemy.  Draco sighed.  "Yes sir."  He rose from the chair and made his way up the winding staircase to his dormitory.

            Snape stood at the bottom of the stairs, watching even long after Malfoy had left his sight.  "It's for his own good.  The boy's got to learn to deal with this before he does something rash."  In a swirl of robes, Snape turned and left the common room.

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            "Potions by itself is bad enough, but why couldn't we have had it with the Ravenclaws?  Or even the Hufflepuffs?  Why the Slytherins?"

            Harry and Hermione laughed as Ron stabbed at his schedule with his wand, and had hysterics when he accidentally set it on fire.  Hermione turned around briefly to check on their temporary charge, whom they were supposed to be showing around.

            "I'm still here, Granger." Jackie muttered inaudibly, and Hermione simply returned her attention to her friends.

            "Did you see that scowl she just gave me?" Hermione whispered to Harry and Ron.  "I think they put her in the wrong house," noted Harry.  "She certainly doesn't act like the rest of us Gryffindors."

            "Leave her alone, " said Ron.  "She's new to this school and this country, cut her some slack.  She's adjusting."

            "She should have adjusted a while back.  She's been here a week, after all."  Hermione shot at Ron, as if he'd insulted her.  "We've got to get to the library before we have to go to class.  Let's walk faster."

            "What if we lose Jackie?" Ron asked.

            Harry smirked.  "Then we lose her.  Come on!"

            The trio took off running down the hallway.

*Jackie's POV*

            I think I'm in the wrong house.

            All these people in Gryffindor are so rude!  They act as if they're above everyone else, but they'll never come out and say it.  Oh no, that's what the _Slytherins_do.  

            What's so bad about the Slytherins, anyway?   Draco seemed pleasant enough.  From the stories they tell about him, though, you'd think he was the Devil Incarnate or something.  And from what I've seen, they give him no reason not to act that way.  Harry and Ron are the worst, goading him on like that.  You'd think that with all the weird-ass classes they teach at this school, they'd include Manners and Maturity.  

            There goes that bitch Hermione checking to see if they've run off and left me yet.  "I'm still here, Granger." I mutter.  It's not loud enough for her to hear, but it makes me feel better all the same.  What a Know-it all!  Every class we've been to so far, she always raises her hand, she always knows the answer, she's always done the assignment, she always gets everything right...Are you a witch or a robot?  She doesn't even bother to take care of herself, either.  Doesn't fix her hair, doesn't wear makeup, doesn't exercise...it's a good thing she's got a high metabolism, or else she'd look like that lady in the portrait.  And then, she complains that she's the only girl in the school without a boyfriend.  Hmm, I wonder why?

            Oh, there they go, running off.  It's alright.  I already know where the library is.  As if they're the only ones who've ever snuck out at night to explore...

*End POV*

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            The library was far from empty, but it wasn't crowded either.  Students were spread out a the various tables reading, studying, or just hanging out.  Draco was by himself in the corner, sitting on the floor, actively reading a spell book he had brought from home.

            The trio burst in the door, laughing and panting from running down the corridors.  Madame Pince gave them a disapproving glare from behind her stack of books, and the three suddenly remembered where they were.  They took a seat at a table across the room from Draco.  The room went back to business as usual.

            Only Draco looked up when the library door opened once again.  There, silhouetted in the glow from the torches behind her, was Jackie.  Draco watched as she made her way into the library, glancing around her every few steps.

*Draco's POV*

            How am I supposed to learn this spell with all these interruptions?  Oh, it's _them_.  Of course.  And watch, they'll hardly get in trouble.  Yep, right there, a nasty look.  And they go on about their business.  Oh well, back to this...

            Why can't these people decide whether they're coming in or not, and do so en masse?  Who is that...oh, wow, it's her.  With that light around her, she looks almost...angelic?  No, just beautiful.  Or a little of both.

            She also looks lost.  I bet those stupid gits ran off and left her behind.  Well, she's made it here, and there she goes to join...them...

            She's walking away from them.  She's heading this direction.  Oh man, she's looking straight at me...cool, calm, Draco, calm.  Nothing to get excited about, she's probably looking for a book I'm sitting by or something...is she sitting down?  She's sitting down!  Breathe, she's just a girl...

            "Hello again."

*End POV*

*Jackie's POV*

            This.  Library.  Is.  Huge.

            It didn't look this big at night last time I came in here.  Of course, it was nighttime.  That could have had something to do with it.  But...wow, this is huge.

            Ah, there're my "escorts".  Sitting on the other side of the room, not even looking for me.  Screw them, I don't like 'em anyway.  Let's see, any other friendly faces in the room...oh, my, there's...

            He's all by himself again.  That boy needs a friend.  Of course, he's reading pretty hard, or was before I interrupted him.  But it won't hurt to keep him company a little bit, will it?  I'll just kind of walk over there all quiet-like, slide down next to him, and say hi.  He's staring at me...hee hee, they say that I have the best ass below 14th street, is it true?  I bet he doesn't know anything about Rent, though…

            Okay, my heart is trying to burst out of my chest right now.  Calm down, just sliiide down next to him, find your voice, and…

            "Hello again."

            "He speaks!"

            NO!

*End POV*

            "Hello again."  Draco said quietly.

            "He speaks!"  Jackie said, surprised.  It must have slipped out, though, because her hands immediately went to cover her mouth.  Draco's face turned a faint shade of pink, and he looked down at the floor.

            "I'm sorry, I can really be stupid sometimes.  I meant to say," Jackie took a deep breath, "hello Draco, how are you?"

            "About the same as last time you asked."  Draco glanced up at her, and found her smiling sideways.

            "That bad, huh?"

            Draco couldn't help but laugh a little at that.  Her sense of humor was very similar to his; cynical and sarcastic, and very quick-witted.  He was about to come back with something, when a large shadow fell over them.  Looking up, they realized that it was three shadows.

            "What do you think you're doing, Malfoy?" Ron questioned, glaring down at him.

            Draco scowled.  "I'm holding an intelligent conversation.  Oh, sorry, you wouldn't know about that, would you, Weasely?"

            Ron grabbed Jackie's hand and tried to pull her to her feet.  "Come on, let's get you away from this fellow before he corrupts your mind."  She pulled away and stood on her own.  "I and only I choose who I talk to.  It's a free country, isn't it?  Oh, I forgot, _it's not."_  With that remark, she stormed out of the library.

            "What's that supposed to mean?" asked Hermione.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            "Mr. Malfoy."

            Draco's head snapped up.  Snape was staring at him, making his way towards where Draco was sitting.  "As I asked before, while you were preoccupied with obviously more important matters, if you were to mix pojunctivius root into your Memory potion, what will the outcome be?"

            Every student in the class was staring at Draco, waiting for him to answer the question.  Actually, they were waiting for him him to _not_ answer the question.

            They weren't to  be disappointed.  "I don't know sir."

            Snape looked around the room.  Hermione, as usual, had her hand in the air, waving wildly.  The other students were all staring at either Draco or Snape, except one.  Jackie was looking down at the desk, tapping her fingers as if she was playing a piano.  "Miss Ashmore, would you care to enlighten your classmate?"

            "The pojunctivus root would make the taker actually see objects from their memories that aren't really there.  Quite effective for driving your enemies mad when you can control which memory they are reliving.  They say that the Weird Sisters used this potion to allow the bloody dagger to appear before Macbeth and the blood to appear on Lady Macbeth's hands.  But of course, this class isn't that advanced yet."  She said all this still tapping on the desk, and then looked directly at Snape.  "Sir."

            There was an outburst of laughter from the class for a brief second, then everyone quieted down so as not to provoke the Potions Master any further.  "5 points to Gryffindor for that answer, Miss Ashmore.  Mr. Malfoy, perhaps a semester or two at that American school would jumpstart that brain of yours."

            Draco spent the rest of the class in silence, scowling down at both his potion and Neville, whom he had the misfortune to be paired with.  He kept running his hands over the pocket of his robes, distracted, the rest of the class.  He didn't even notice that Jackie tried to get his attention all class.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            As Potions let out, the trio met up with Jackie outside the classroom.  Hermione stopped her as she tried to walk past them.  "Not so fast.  You should know that you came pretty close to getting points taken from Gryffindor for your attitude today."  Jackie glared back at Hermione, and put on a face that Hermione had never seen anyone use before.  "But I didn't.  I got them added.  So don't be all up in my face because I stole your Little Miss Perfect answer.  Now, if you'll excuse me..."

            She started to push past Hermione, when from the classroom came a blonde-haired tank known as Draco Malfoy.  He ran straight into Ron and Harry, knocking them aside and not even glancing up when they shouted at him.  Jackie stepped out of the way, but Hermione wasn't fast enough and was knocked to the ground.  Jackie listened to what he was muttering as he ran past, and watched him storm off to the Slytherin dorms.

            Without warning, Jackie took off after him.  The trio just kind of stared after them.

            "Is she going to the Slytherin house?" Ron asked.

            "Looks like it," Harry answered.

            They all stood there for a second, then turned around and walked the other way.

*Jackie's POV*

            I can NOT believe this!  I answer the question the way he wants it to be answered, and they're afraid that I'm going to lose points for the house.  Stupid little insignificant points.  Don't these guys know how to profile teachers?  Geez, Snape was easy.  McGonnogall too.  Still working on Flitwick.  But, come on...

            "That's the last of it...they'll hardly even miss me...I'm going to do it..."

            _What!?_  Draco just walked by muttering to himself.  He didn't sound happy.  In fact, he sounded, almost...

            Oh my God!  I've got to follow him!

*End POV*

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            Agent Blorange:  Wha...what?  You can't leave it there!

            Jackie:  Oh, is someone starting to enjoy the story?

            Agent Blorange:  No, but if someone's going to die, I want it to happen now.

            Draco-muse:  (Chuckling) You know, buddy, you're reeeeally pushing it.

            Takeru-muse:  I don't know, I think I'd like to see you blast yourself into oblivion.

            Draco-muse:  That's it! (Pulls out wand)

            Jackie: (Stopping him) Allow me.  (Pulls out own wand, imitating Hermione from the movie) Petrificus Totalus!

            (Both Takeru-muse and Agent Blorange fall to the ground, paralyzed.  Mario walks in and puts duct tape over Jackie's mouth.)

            Mario:  Don't do that, that's freaky!

            Jackie:  Hmm Mphd, mnm mph mnm hmphmrn!

            Draco-muse:  What she means, is "Stay tuned, and R&R!"  Oh, and if you want a quick laugh, read Jackie's parody of Digimon and Harry Potter, "Slamfest!".


	3. Chapter 3: No One Is Alone

            Jackie:  FINALLY!  My writer's block crumbled, and I was able to finish this chapter!

            Agent Blorange:  Oh, you mean Draco was sleeping on the job?

            Draco-muse:  No, I was working on the rest of the story.  This part was just hard to put into words.

            Takeru-muse:  I could have done it.

            Jackie:  Don't start you two.  Okay, I don't own Harry Potter, blah blah blah…you get the idea.

            Draco-muse:  Just enjoy the story.

            Agent Blorange:  *Under his breath* I'll enjoy watching you…

            Draco-muse:  SHUT UP ALREADY!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 3:  No One Is Alone

*Draco's POV*

            I'll show them to make a fool out of me.  Everyone just LOVES to pick on the poor little rich kid who got disowned.  Well, let's see how much their laughing when they find me tomorrow!

            Do I still have the book?  Yes.  Good.  "Spells for Self-Infliction".  Quite interesting, you don't find many Hungarian spellbooks.  One of the books that Hogwarts bans, I confess, but I happened to have at…well, where I used to live.  Spells for good…spells for bad.  And one for suicide.

            That's the one I've been studying.

*End POV*

            Draco rushed down the hallway, not caring who he knocked over in his haste to get to his dormitory room.  A few bewildered first years weren't quite quick enough to abscond from his path, and were plowed over without a backwards glance.  They had just gotten up, when Jackie, who was following as close on Draco's heels as she could, tripped over them and they were floored again.  Jackie yelled a quick apology over her shoulder, and the two very confused 11-year olds watched her run off.

            Jackie turned the corner in time to see Draco reach what Jackie thought was just a plain dungeon wall, but he said "Outcast" and a hidden door swung open and Draco slipped inside.  _Ha ha, whoever though up that password was very funny Jackie thought, and the sarcasm that the thought dripped could almost be felt radiating from her skin.  As the door began to slide shut, Jackie squeezed in the crack before the door closed completely, leaving her standing alone in the empty Slytherin common room._

*Jackie's POV*

            No wonder he's depressed.  This place would make anyone want to kill themselves.  Okay, now which way did he go?  Um, which was is it in Gryffindor?  Boys on the left, girls to the right.  Okay, this is Slytherin, I'll go right.

            Jeez, these stairs are steep!  And very winding.  Is that a word?  No, don't start babbling now; you need to have your wits about you.  This could literally be a matter of life and death, and I'm wondering about word origins!  Great, now I'm switching tenses.  Stop it!  Okay, here's the top.

            Which room is his?  There're 8 rooms up here!  Okay, 1, 2, they're numbered like that, find room 7…aha, here it is…open the door…"Öngyilkos lesz, öngyilkosságot…"

            "Stop!"

*End POV*

*Draco's POV*

            Okay, spell book there, where's my wand?  Okay, here, in my pocket, of course.  Page 54, page 54…here we go.  Jeez, my hands are shaking so bad I can barely hold my wand!  Don't be going soft now, Draco, if you're going to do this, there's no turning back…

            "Öngyilkos lesz, öngyilkosságot…"

            "Stop!"

            What the…?

*End POV*

            "Öngyilkos lesz, öngyilkosságot…"

            "Stop!"

            Draco dropped his wand midspell and turned towards the door.  "What do you think you're doing here?  You're not a Slytherin!" he shouted.

            "Trying to save your ass from doing something more permanent than necessary!" she yelled back.  This took Draco by surprise; except for his family, when he yelled, he wasn't used to being yelled back at.  "Well maybe you just don't understand what I'm going through!" he shot back, and studied her face for signs of weakness.

            Not on Jackie.  "I don't understand?  Look at this."  She rolled up the sleeve of her robes, and Draco gasped as he gazed upon the long red scar that crossed her wrist.  "When did you do that?" he asked, shocked that someone like her had…well, stooped to his level.

            Jackie sat down on the bed with him.  "Let's just say that it involves a school trip, a crowded bus, and a guy with way too much testosterone in his system.  But yes, I've been at this point too.  Take it from someone who's been there…you don't realize until it's almost too late that you made the wrong choice.  There's always another option, always…"

            Jackie, who had been staring down at the bed, looked up, and straight into Draco's eyes.  "…someone to talk to."

            Suddenly, everything that had been working up inside of him since that summer came rushing out in a sea of words.  Jackie sat and listened, almost shocked at how vulnerable this boy really was behind his stone façade.  He told her about his poor marks, the fight with his father, his uncertainties about his future, everything.

            "…and now I just don't know where to go or who to turn to, because everyone has abandoned me.  I mean, there were times in the past where I thought I was alone, but now I'm really, truly, completely alone."

            Jackie leaned over and pulled Draco into her arms.   "There now, it's not true."

            "_No one here to guide you_

_            Now you're on your own_

_            Only me beside you_

_            Still you're not alone_

_            No one is alone_

_            Truly, no one is alone"_

            Jackie's voice was soft and soothing, and Draco felt more comfortable there in her arms than he had felt in a long time.  He felt tears welling up in the back of his eyes, but he shut them tight, determined not to show the weakness that he himself had been looking for in her face.

            _"Sometimes people leave you_

_            Halfway through the wood_

_            Others may deceive you_

_            You decide what's good_

_            You decide alone  
            But no one is alone."_

            Draco looked up into her eyes, and suddenly couldn't hold back the tears.   "I wish…"  He leaned his head on her shoulders as his sentence was broken by sobs.  She hugged him tighter and patted his shoulders.  "Shh.  I know."  A movement in the corner of her eyes, and turned her vision to the doorway.  She saw Snape standing at the doorway of the room, staring at the two of them.  She could see people in the shadows behind him, but couldn't see who they were yet.

            "_People make mistakes  
            Fathers, mothers:  People make mistakes  
            Holding to their own_

_            Thinking they're alone_

_            Honor their mistakes_

_            Everybody makes:  One another's terrible mistakes  
            Witches can be right_

_            Giants can be good_

_            You decide what's right_

_            You decide what's good"_

            As she sat their singing quietly to Draco, allowing him to release all the pain that he had been suffering through, Jackie watched the doorway.  One of the figures was in the light for a few seconds trying to catch a glimpse inside; she saw a glint of flaming red hair, and could guess who the other two shadows were.  _I guess they decided to trust my judgment for once.  Snape signaled to her, silently asking what had happened.  She glanced down at the bed to indicate the spell book and wand, and the Potion-master's eyes went wide with disbelief.  She heard the three shadows begin whispering, and decided to continue her song…__with a few lyrical changes to help clear some things up with everyone._

            _"Just remember…_

_            Someone is on our side_

_            Someone else is not"_

_            Jackie looked up at the three pairs of eyes now peering into the room._

            _"While they're seeing their side_

_            Maybe they forgot_

_            We are not alone_

_            For no one is alone."_

            Draco stirred on her shoulder, and Jackie signaled to Snape to leave, and in a flip of his robes, he had shooed the nosey Trio out of the stairwell and was off down the stairs.  "Why are you so nice to me?" Draco asked, his eyes red and his voice hoarse from crying.  Jackie ran a hand through Draco's hair unconsciously, and trailed her fingers across his cheek to wipe the tears off.  "Despite what my dorm mates have tried to convince me, you've given me no reason not to be nice.  When you're by yourself, you're nice, funny, and all in all a good person to be around.  _Tu__ es très sympa." _

            Draco smiled when he heard Jackie slip into French.  "_Et tu es très gentille, mademoiselle."  Jackie smiled at him when he answered her in the language that she had studied since childhood, and Draco pulled her in for another hug._

            Unbeknownst to them, two eyes were watching them from the shadows as the sun went behind a cloud, and the light in the room faded into darkness.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            Agent Blorange:  Why'd you have to go and stop him?

            Jackie:  There would be no story if he killed himself!

            Draco-muse:  Um, Jackie, the thing with the scar…um…

            Jackie:  No, I did not really try to kill myself when the event touched at in this story happened.  I thought about it, but I didn't.

            Takeru-muse:  Scary stuff though.  You have a habit of writing stuff like that, you know?

            Jackie:  Well, I promise you, the angst mostly stops here and it's almost a pure romance.

            Agent Blorange:  Yeah right.  That's what you said about CSMH.

            Draco-muse:  Trust me, it will be fine.  Anyway, I hope you, the reader, enjoyed this chapter, and if you did, let us know!  Please R&R!

            Agent Blorange:  Oh, by the way, the song was (you guessed it) "No One Is Alone" from Into the Woods.

            Jackie:  I'm a sucker for songfics.

            Draco-muse:  And this will not be the last one.

            Agent Blorange:  Shoot me now.  Please, I beg you.


	4. Chapter 4: Rejection and Acceptance

            Jackie:  Woohoo!  Two chapters in one night!

            Agent Blorange:  Long ones, too.  I'm starting to like the way you think, Draco-muse.

            Draco-muse:  I told you I was all over it.

            Takeru-muse:  Hey, remember when I helped her write 3 chapters in one day for CSMH?

            Draco-muse:  You helped her revise three chapters, not write them.

            Jackie:  Boys, play nice.  Anyways, I don't own Harry Potter.  Or Draco.  Or Tom Felton.  Only in my dreams.

            Agent Blorange:  Ron fans beware!  There is some anti-Ron stuff from now on.

            Jackie:  I don't hate Ron, I've already said that.  I don't hate any of the trio; it's strictly for literary reasons that they get bashed.  After all, this is a Draco-centric story.

            Draco-muse:  So enjoy!

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Chapter 4:  Rejection and Acceptance

"Mr. Malfoy, would you please see me after class."

            Draco gulped.  "Yes, Professor McGonnogall."

            The rest of the Transfiguration class began to whisper possible things Draco could be in trouble for.  Jackie turned around and gave him a reassuring glance.  Draco smiled sheepishly back at her; _Even a glance from her can make me feel better. _

_            As the class filed out, leaving their papers on McGonnogall's desk, Jackie leaned over and whispered in Draco's ear very discretely, "I'll wait for you outside."  Draco gave a slight nod in acknowledgement and finished signing his name to his report. McGonnogall was waiting behind her desk as he walked up, mustering all the courage he could (and trying to figure out what he did that got him in trouble), and laid his paper on top of the pile._

            She immediately picked it up and scanned it.  "Mr. Malfoy, last year your work showed a steady decrease in quality, and earlier this year was no different."

            _Great, she's on about my grades now, too._

            "However, the other professors and I have noticed a marked improvement in your schoolwork lately."

            _Huh?  You have?  I didn't notice any difference.   Of course, I've been distracted…_

            McGonnogall set his paper down and looked at him over her glasses.  "Now tell me, what exactly has motivated such a change in you?  I know that I'm not teaching any better.  And don't pretend that I don't know about your little incident—it's part of Snape's job as a professor to inform the other teachers of that kind of event."

            _Great, every bloody teacher in this school knows I tried to blast myself into oblivion.  "I'm not sure, Professor…I haven't even noticed a change, myself."_

            Jackie's face flashed in front of the window in the door, and Draco caught himself glancing in her direction.  McGonnogall noticed his distraction and smiled.  "Take my advice young man." She said, rising from her desk.  "A girl like her will help you do extraordinary things.  Treat her well."  And with a pat on his shoulder, she walked out the door.

            "Good afternoon Miss Ashmore," the professor chirped as she walked down the hall, not even looking at the surprised girl standing outside the door.  Draco soon appeared in the doorway, and both exchanged surprised looks, shrugged, and walked off towards the Great Hall.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*          "Ron, slow down before you make yourself sick, buddy."

            "It's never hurt me before."

            Jackie looked strangely at Ron as he indulged in his daily vacuuming of food off his plate.  Harry and Hermione had gotten used to it, but to Jackie, it made even Steven, her football-playing, 6'2", 300 pound friend, look like an anorexic (A/N- see Chapter 10, when I write it). "Well, you'll be regretting it, maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but in 10 years or so when your met slows down and you wonder why you've got a beer belly when you don't drink."

            "His met?  What's a met?" Hermione asked.  Sometimes, the slang Jackie used confused the born-and-bred Britons, and vise versa.  They were constantly explaining themselves.

            "His metabolism.  You know, the thing that makes you hungry or thirsty, how fast you use up the energy in the food you eat?"  Jackie smirked, because the confused look on Hermione's face (which she was learning quickly which topics produced such a look) was priceless.  "Oh."

            There was a moment of silence as the information sunk in, and then the Trio resumed conversation as usual, and Jackie zoned out into her own little world.  She was mentally reviewing a test she had taken earlier in Charms, when she felt a pair of eyes staring at her from across the room.  She glanced over her shoulder, and her eyes made contact with another pair of pale blue eyes from the other side of the Hall.  Draco realized that he had been caught staring, and at first looked away, blushing, but his eyes slowly returned to meet hers, and a smile slid across his face.  She smiled back, fighting a giggling fit from seeing him flustered, and mouthed "Play it off" and winked at him.  Draco laughed silently and winked back, and put a finger to his lips indicating that their friendship was a secret one.  Jackie nodded slightly and turned back around.

            "What was that all about?"

            Harry, Ron, and Hermione were all staring at her.  _Crap, they saw.  "What was what?" she asked innocently.  Harry tilted his head.  "You were signaling across the room.  Who's your new friend?"_

            _Oh good, they didn't see who I was talking to.  "He's in my Advanced Magic Mathematics class.  I don't think you know him.  But he's cool…he's my buddy."  Satisfied, they once again resumed status quo._

            It was the truth:  Draco was in her math class, the only math class offered at Hogwarts.  And they didn't know him…they knew _about him, they knew __of him, but they didn't __know him.  And Draco was her "buddy".  All of her friends were her "buddies"; it was a word she had picked up from a friend back home. Especially those with whom she wished to be more than "buddies" with._

            Jackie finished her lunch, and walked out of the Great Hall and towards the courtyard where she could do some thinking.  She hadn't been out of the Hall too long, when she felt herself being followed.  Before she could turn around, two hands were covering her eyes, and she felt a robed figure press up against her from behind.

            "Guess who."

            "Hmm, I don't know, who could it be?"  Of course she knew who it was; Jackie just wanted to annoy him a little.  "Could it be Potter?"  

            The hands were gone and Jackie smirked into the face of an "offended" Draco.  "I've never been so insulted in my life!  Fine, goodbye then!"  He started to walk off, and Jackie called after him.  "Wait, I'm sorry, come back!"  Draco stopped and turned around, "Just kidding!"  Both of them laughed and headed out towards the courtyard together.

            Back at the entrance to the hall, three very confused Gryffindor 6th years exchanged surprised glances as they watched the "Odd Couple" walk out together.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            Later that night, Jackie was sitting in the Gryffindor common room, curled up on the floor in the corner with a French textbook and a notebook, copying down vocabulary.  She was in the middle of the medical chapter when a shadow fell over her book.  She looked up just as Ron was crouching down next to her.  "What're you doing?" he asked, looking at her handwriting.  He picked up the notebook, spun it around several times, and raised his eyebrows.  "Please say this isn't Potions homework."

            Jackie laughed.  "No, it's Independent Study French.  I have a lot of these this year, because this school doesn't offer normal classes."

            Ron sat the rest of the way down.  "What do you mean?"

            Jackie shrugged.  "Back in San Antonio, Witchcraft courses were only half of our curriculum.  We still had to take math, science, history, foreign language, and all the other classes.  At Hiogatoah, if you were a witch or wizard, you were at school 12 hours a day, literally.  Later for special projects."

            "No wonder early classes don't bother you," Ron tried to joke.  Jackie could tell that he was nervous about something.  "Jackie, when you were signaling across the room at lunch…you were talking to Malfoy, weren't you?"

            Jackie looked down at her notebook.  "Yes.  No matter what I hear about him, it's really hard for me to believe that someone like him is hated by so many people."  Ron scooted closer.  "Listen to me, Jackie:  He'll change.  Right now, he's probably just trying to break you in, but he wants something.  That's the only reason he's friends with anyone."  Jackie turned away from Ron and stared into the fire.

            "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, I'm just telling you what I've seen."

            Ron's voice had softened a great deal between the two sentences.  Jackie looked back at his face, and noticed that he was looking at her strangely.  She also noticed something else.

            "Where are Harry and Hermione?"

            Ron propped up on one arm.  "At the library.  I wanted to talk to you alone, though, so I stayed behind."  Jackie smirked.  "I get the impression that the two of them don't like me much."

            It was Ron's turn to look down.  "Harry and Mione are very competitive.  You're smart, you act differently, you think differently, and you're the center of attention.  That was they're job.  They look at you as a threat rather than a friend."

            Both were silent for a while as Ron stared into the fire and Jackie scribbled a few more notes in her notebook.  Finally, Ron broke the silence.  "Um, Jackie, I was wondering…"

            _Oh God. He's going to ask me something I don't want to answer…please don't let it be what I think it's going to be…_

            "…um, I mean, I like you, I mean, you know, and, well…would you be my girlfriend?"

            _Damn it.  You had to ask._

            Jackie winced as she tried to think of the right way to phrase her answer.  "Ron, you're my friend, and I like you better than almost anyone else I've met here…but, you know, sometimes it's better to stay friends than to risk ruining it on a relationship."

            Ron looked at his feet.  He didn't say anything for a while.  Jackie felt her heart breaking along with his.  "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you."

            "It's alright," Ron said quietly.  "At least you were honest with me."  He got to his feet and trudged out of the common room, without looking behind him or saying another word.

            Jackie put down her textbook and curled up as small as she could make herself, and tried to keep the sadness Ron had radiated from making her cry.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            "Hey Jackie, are you coming or what?"

            It had been a week since Ron and Jackie's conversation, and once again they were all leaving Transfigurations.  Hermione was looking at Jackie standing outside the classroom, who she thought should have been following them.  "Not today, I've got a…previous engagement to honor."  Hermione shrugged and walked back to the others.

            Draco emerged from the room a few seconds later, and Jackie met up with him and the two headed towards the grounds, where they were going to spend their lunch hour.

            "Where did she say she was going?" Ron asked Hermione back in the Great Hall.  "She said she had a 'previous engagement', whatever that was." Hermione and Harry glanced at each other, then Ron.  He hadn't told them about what went on that night in the common room, but judging by his dampened spirits, they could guess pretty well.

            Dean Thomas leaned over to the group.  "You mean Jackie?  Man, you will not believe what I'm going to tell you."

            "What?" all three asked in unison.

            "We were coming back from Magical Creatures," said Seamus, "and we saw her walking towards the lake…with Malfoy."

            Ron's face turned red.  Harry and Hermione exchanged nervous glances.  "Did you hear what they were talking about?"

            Dean shrugged.  "They weren't speaking English, that's for sure.  But Malfoy was carrying a basket of some kind."

            Ron was up before anyone could catch him, and Harry and Hermione were hard-pressed to follow him out towards the lake.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            « C'est beau temps aujord'hui, n'est pas? » Jackie asked Draco.

            « Oui, il faut chaud et ensoleillé...parfait pour une pique-nique. » Draco responded.

            A couple of third years gave them strange looks as they passed.  Draco and Jackie just looked at each other, and then burst out laughing once they were out of earshot.  French was yet another common bond they had found between them…that and the pleasure they received from speaking it around people who had no clue what they were saying.

            They reached the shore of the lake, and Draco spread out the blanket while Jackie removed her shoes and stared out over the surface of the lake, where the giant squid was breeching a tentacle and one of its enormous eyes.  As they ate their lunch, Draco and Jackie kept stealing glances at each other, and looking away quickly when they were caught.  After they had finished their food, Jackie lay back gently in Draco's lap, and both stared out over the surface of the lake, watching the waves reflect sparkling sunrays into their eyes.  Strikingly different from the rest of their time together, there wasn't much said at the moment; both felt that there were no words necessary for this situation.

            Finally, Draco broke the silence.  "Ron asked you out, didn't he?"

            Jackie looked over her shoulder at him.  "Yeah, he did."

            Draco was quiet for a minute, and slightly tense.  "What'd you say?"

            Jackie looked down, and saw Draco's hand lying on the blanket.  She reached down and gently took it in hers.  "I told him that he was my friend.  Nothing more."

            Draco smiled, hardly believing how right everything was going lately.  A month ago, he had been ready to end his life.  Now, looking out over the horizon, holding the most wonderful girl he had ever known in his arms, her hand in his, he would have given anything to freeze time for eternity.  He wrapped his arms around her waist, and bent close to her ear.

            "And if I were to ask you the same question, what would your answer be?"

            Jackie smiled softly and closed her eyes.  When she spoke, her voice was soft and silky.  "I thought you'd never ask."

            Jackie shifted and turned to face Draco, who was smiling half out of ecstasy, and half from shock.  She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, and Draco pulled her in close to him.  The air was getting thick between them.  Both of them were getting intoxicated by the presence of the other; eyelids were getting heavier, faces getting closer.  It was Draco who finally closed the gap between them.  He placed a soft, tentative kiss on her lips, moved back, and then went back for a harder, more confident one.  Despite the rumors circling about Draco's "experience" with Pansy and other Hogwarts' girls, this was, in fact, Draco's first kiss, and Jackie seemed to sense his hesitation.  She took the initiative, and traced Draco's lips with her tongue, and Draco copied the gesture.  Soon, the kiss was a deep, passion-filled exchange, with both participants playing their part in the action.

            When they finally separated for breath, Draco leaned back and ran his hands through Jackie's hair, feeling the softness of the loose red strands.  Jackie laid her head on Draco's shoulder, and gently laid a hand on his chest.  They could have stayed like that all day, until the bell rang that signified the end of lunch and the summons back to class.  Jackie replaced her shoes and helped Draco fold the blanket, and the two walked back to the building hand in hand.

            "Jackie, maybe we should be careful at first.  We don't want the whole school to know that we're together just yet."

            Jackie nodded in agreement.  "I've noticed that inter-house relationships are frowned upon here.  We should wait a little while, to give people time to adjust."

            Draco leaned over and kissed her quickly on the cheek, and Jackie giggled as he began tickling her in the side.

            From a few feet away, a hidden figure was watching them from the bushes.  He watched angrily as they walked back to the castle together.  His eyes reflected pure hatred and rejection at the same time.  He would have his revenge.

            "Ron, what are you doing back there?"

            He didn't even bother answering Hermione's question as her attention shifted to the new couple silhouetted against the horizon.

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            Agent Blorange:  Hey, you made it through an entire chapter with no song references!

            Jackie:  Yeah, I even left out Rent references too.  You should be proud of me.

            Draco-muse:  Golf claps!

            Agent Blorange:  NO! RENT!  YOU JUST RUINED IT!

            Takeru-muse:  Don't listen to him. I'm on your side:  After all, this is Jackie we're talking about.

            Draco-muse:  Exactly.  It wouldn't be a Ken's Dark Angel story without a song reference.

            Agent Blorange:  I had to be friends with the Broadway nut.

            Jackie:  Get over it.  Anyways, it's 11 o'clock, so don't expect anything else tonight, but watch for more chapters tomorrow.  And don't forget to R&R, I love reviews; they let me know that people are reading my stories. 

            Draco-muse:  Stay tuned!

            Takeru-muse:  That was my line from CSMH!

            Draco-muse:  Get over CSMH already, it's long gone, no one knows what you're talking about!

            Jackie:  Ignore them.   The testosterone is raging between my muses.  I sometimes wonder how they got so much, considering they live in a girl's mind…oh well.  A bientôt!

            (A/N- Here's the translation of the short French dialogue earlier:

            "The weather's beautiful today, isn't it?

            "Yes, it's warm and sunny…perfect for a picnic."

            Hey, I said I spoke French…I didn't say I spoke a lot!) 


	5. Chapter 5: Complications and Confrontat...

            Jackie:  Well, 6 Reviews is certainly a start.

            Agent Blorange:  Oh no, you're not going to do the whole "respond to every review in hopes of getting more" bit other author's do?

            Jackie:  Anything that works.

            Draco-muse:  We interrupt this regularly scheduled disclaimer for the following messages TO our sponsors…

            Jen:  Hope you're still there, our first review coolness chica, and we certainly hope you like the rest of the story.

            kathryn:  Yeah, I know it started out sad, but it got happier!  And if you like sad, try reading "Beating the Odds" too…

            aquila:  Thanks, that new character took…oh, let's see, when did we start writing CSMH…3 years to develop properly, and at least one person likes my characterization!  Thanks for the support!

            Greenleaf-girl412:  Here's that update you wanted…well, actually, it's that 3rd update you wanted…hope you liked the others too…

            kickedoutofthegoblet:  Of course there are other Rentheads out there, but I didn't know there were other Harry Potter/Rentheads out there!  You rock gurl!  *Runs off singing "There's only now, there's only here…give in to love, or give into fear…*

            bakaneko:  I loved reading your review.  Lots of responses here…okay, I don't know why I don't get reviews either, it sucks!  The OOC Draco thing, there's a note about that at the end of this chapter…yes, the number of HP stories is frightening…TOM FELTON WILL GROW UP TO BE A SEX GOD!  Just like Draco…hee hee hee…Merci beaucoup, a vôtre service…and once again, hope you like the rest of the story.

            Takeru-muse:  Well, whether or not you mention a song in this chapter, you've already got your RRR in there, so let us move on, shall we?

            Jackie:  Yes, lets.  *Ahem*  I don't own Harry Potter.  You've already read my opinions of Draco and Tom Felton above.  There, that about covers it?

            Draco-muse:  Therefore…Please Enjoy!

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Chapter 5:  Complications and Confrontations

"Um, Jackie, what does the Pythagorean theorem have to do with transfiguration, again?"

            "I have no clue.  But this stupid worksheet is due today, so we'd better figure it out."

            Jackie and Draco were sitting in the library trying to figure out their Advanced Magic Mathematics homework together.  It was a losing battle, but at least they had a chance to be together without being scrutinized.  Much.

            Draco sat the huge textbook they were studying from up on its edge, hiding the two from view of anyone else in the library.  Jackie snuggled a little bit closer and Draco leaned over and playfully kissed her neck.  "We really need to find some other way to be together," Draco whispered to her.  "Someone's bound to figure us out here.  A person can only study so much."

            "Unless you're Hermione," Jackie said quietly.  Both looked at each other and laughed quietly before engaging in a quick kiss.  Draco, Jackie learned, was an incredibly fast learner…he had taken their one encounter at the lake and a bit of research on his part, and become, in her opinion, the best damn kisser she had the pleasure of knowing.  He pressed his lips to hers, gradually increasing the pressure, and then began exploring her mouth with his incredibly supple tongue.  Jackie simply melted into him, allowing him to have control of the situation and enjoying the moment for all it was worth.

            They had almost lost track of time when Draco saw out of the corner of his eye that the book was falling down.  He quickly stopped the kiss and grabbed at the textbook to guide it down quietly.  Both slightly embarrassed teenagers looked around quickly to see if anyone noticed.  Fortunately, the library was almost deserted at that point, and Jackie breathed a sigh of relief before looking down at her watch.

            "Hey buddy, I'd better head to practice before Harry bites my head off for being late.  Again."  Draco gave her puppy dog eyes and pouted a little.  "Who cares about Potter?  Don't you love me more than him?"  The way he said those words was sarcastic enough that anyone within earshot would have taken them as a joke, and not seriously.

            "Of course I love you.  But I also love having a spot on the Quidditch team.  So, I'll TTYL, okay?"  Jackie leaned over and patted his cheek as she stood up and gathered her things.  "Okay, C Ya!"  Draco called after her sarcastically.  Jackie flipped her hand over her shoulder behind her in a "talk to the hand" gesture and walked out without turning around, but with a considerable grin plastered on her face.

            Draco sighed as she disappeared through the library doors, and reluctantly went back to his worksheet with thoughts of their next encounter swimming in his mind.

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            "Coming your way Ron!"

            The Gryffindor Quidditch practice was in full practice as thick grey clouds covered the skyline, and tiny raindrops sprinkled over the landscape.  Ron swung his arm back and knocked the Bludger Seamus was referring to out of play temporarily, as Harry zoomed in after the Snitch between them.  Jackie, who had been recruited earlier in the summer as Angelina's replacement, currently had the Quaffle and was doing passing drills with Katie Bell, the last remaining team member from Harry's 1st year.  She zipped over Seamus's head and pitched the Quaffle straight through the goals.  

The scene continued much in the same way for half an hour longer, and then Harry blew his whistle and called in the team.  "Okay, our next match is against Slytherin, we need to be in top form so we can beat those bastards!"  A series of supportive comments and enthusiasm followed his short-but-sweet pep talk from the rest of the team, except one.  Jackie rolled her eyes and pulled at her gloves impatiently.  _I hate gloves…wish that Harry would get his head out of his ass for two seconds…why are these things so tight?_

            "Jackie, did you hear me?"

Jackie snapped back from her hatred of her hand apparel and back to the green-eyed face staring at her.  The rest of the team had flown off to the locker rooms, and it was just the two of them.  "Quoi? Excusez-moi, Harry, mais j'ai rêvassais, je suis desolée…"  Harry cocked his head at her.  "What?  Anyway, I just said practice is over, see you in two days."  With that, Harry was off as well, leaving Jackie alone on the field.  Rather than going into the dressing room with the others, however, she decided to have some private practice of her own.  She flew up as high as she could, and then went into a quick series of dives and ascents.  The feeling of the wind against her skin at the high speeds she was going was refreshing to her mind and body, stripping away a layer of stress that had piled up over the past few weeks.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Draco's voice startled her as she dove near the ground.  She pulled the nose of her broom up and made an emergency stop, flipping the broom (and consequently, herself) upside down.  She hung there for a moment, smiling into her very surprised boyfriend's face.  "How in the world can you stay like that?" he asked.  "Don't you have a headache?"  Jackie giggled.  "This is actually quite fun.  And look, no hands!"  She released her hands from the broomstick, and hung solely from her legs as Draco jumped to catch her until he realized that she wasn't going to fall off and kill herself.

"You're going to give me a heart attack one of these days.  I'm supposed to be scaring you on my broom, not vice versa!"  Jackie simply smiled, leaned in and placed a quick kiss on Draco's nose, and flipped herself upright before landing on the ground next to him.  "But you should have learned by now that stereotypes don't apply to us, now, do they?"  Draco smiled and put his arm around her, and kissed her cheek briskly before herding her towards the building for there next class.

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            Potions started out uneventful as usual.  Snape began by taking the customary 5 points from Gryffindor for something frivolous, quizzed random students about parts of the previous night's homework (while consciously ignoring Hermione's waving hand), and briefly explaining the day's potion before pairing groups up.

            "Potter, Parkinson."

            Harry groaned and Pansy pouted her lips in Draco's direction as she stood up and walked over to Harry's desk, making an effort to attract Draco's attention as she sashayed her hips and dropped her quill "accidentally" in front of his desk.  Jackie watched the scene with disgust.  _Jeez, what a slut ho bag…almost as bad as Katy (A/n- Ignore that last part, it's just stress relief for me.)  Draco was thinking something similar._

            "Weasely, Goyle."

            "Granger, Bullstrode."

            "Malfoy…"  Draco shut his eyes, hoping for anything but Neville, whom he had been constantly paired with for over a year.  "…Ashmore."  Draco's eyes shot open and went wide as he stared at the head of his house, shocked by his uncharacteristic generosity.  "Maybe by pairing you with someone who knows what she's doing, she'll start rubbing off on you."  Snape then turned to Jackie, who was happily gathering her things while trying not to appear quite so happy, and gave her what passed on Snape as a smile, and winked.

            "Longbottom, Crabbe."

            _Eeyeesh.  Jackie thought, shuddering.  __That was possibly the creepiest thing I've ever seen in my life._

            Class continued as usual, but Jackie and Draco couldn't help but feel like someone was watching them as they made their concoction.  It was beginning to make them uneasy.  Jackie stopped mid sentence and spun her head around in time to catch Ron break his stare and return to his potion.  Jackie gave Draco an "I thought so" look as she finished measuring out the daisy root.

            At his cauldron, Ron was angrily chopping up his root.  He pictured it as Malfoy, and thus did a very complete job of doing so.  Goyle was just standing back, watching Ron both out of ignorance of the potion and fear that he would be next on the block.  

            _Stupid git, what Malfoy wants, Malfoy gets.  I bet he put her under some kind of spell that day, and that she would be mine if I could just figure out how to break it.  Damn it, what is it about him that makes him so bloody irresistible to women?  Maybe if I bleached my hair blonde like he does, or walked around with his scowl on my face, or…_

_            "Ron, did you hear me?"_

            Ron's trance was broken as he stared up into the face that he longed to own.  He covered his shock in a split second with a look of apathy, and went back to gathering the miniscule pieces of root.  "I said, could we please borrow a gram of asphodel?  We didn't get quite enough."  Ron simply ignored Jackie, and poured the daisy roots into a beaker to measure them.  _Maybe if I show her what it's like to be rejected, she'll see the error of her ways, and come to her senses.  Maybe that will break the spell Malfoy's put her under!  She'll just stand there, waiting patiently, and finally ask me…_

_            "Gregory, could I borrow a gram of asphodel?"_

            Ron fumed as his partner nodded and measured out the ingredient for her.  She thanked him and walked back to Malfoy's desk, leaving Ron infuriated and humiliated.

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            "Ron, I don't think you should get yourself all worked up about this," Hermione said as she sat a plate down in front of Ron.  Very uncharacteristically, he pushed it aside and continued to stare off into the distance.

            Lunch was a painful time for Ron, because he had to be in such a close proximity to Jackie, and yet he couldn't say or do anything about her and Malfoy without attracting attention.  Currently, she was sitting separately from the rest of the table, and she and Malfoy were sending silent signals back and forth, a reality which Ron was trying his best not to acknowledge.

            Harry leaned over to Ron and whispered, "After all, she's friends with that ferret Malfoy.  She can't be all right in the head."

            Ron shot Harry the meanest look he could muster, and his two friends decided to stop the conversation then and there.  Ron picked at his food for a little while, and kept stealing glances toward Jackie's end of the table.  _Malfoy is no better than I.  Just you watch…I'll have her and there's nothing Malfoy can do about it._

_            Jackie finished her meal and slung her backpack casually over her shoulder as she got ready to leave.  At the Slytherin table, Malfoy did the same with his bag, and the two staggered their exits so that they wouldn't be seen leaving together, but Jackie didn't have to wait to long for Draco outside the doors of the Great Hall._

            Ron waited for Draco to get about halfway to the door before quietly slipping out of his seat and towards the exit.

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            "Did you see the death looks that Weasely's been giving us all day?"

            Jackie and Draco were making their way down the hallway towards the grounds.  They'd made a habit of hanging out outside the school, because first of all, there were less people outside during meals, and second, both of them liked fresh air, and Jackie loved the weather in that country (Draco thought she was nuts though…_Who likes cloudy days?)  They'd find a spot near one of the fountains, and just sit and discuss things of varying importance until their next class._

            Jackie shook her head sadly.  "In the dialect of my home town, he is 'muey pissed off-o.'  But he'll get over it…I hope."  Draco slid his arm around her waist, and Jackie leaned her head against his shoulder.

            "MALFOY!  A word with you!"

            Draco turned around to see a red-faced Ron Weasely glaring at the two of them.  Draco's old cocky grin came back on his face as he confronted his old enemy.  "Oh, and what would that be?"

            Ron strode up to Draco and looked down into the shorter boy's face.  He spoke in a low voice, but every word was hard and sharp.  "You can have any other girl in this world, and I will have no problems.  But you have taken the one that you cannot have, and it is my duty as a gentleman to defend her honor."  Draco raised himself as tall as he could make himself, and got nose-to-nose with the larger, angrier boy.  "Are you saying, that you're willing to fight me, for her honor?"

            Jackie stepped in between the two before anything else was said.  "You two are gentlemen, not bucks.  Draw in your antlers and leave each other alone."  Draco took a step back first and turned to walk away, and then Ron leaned backwards.  "Not so tough without your little handmaiden there to protect you, huh Malfoy?" he spat.  Draco whirled on his toes and was right back in Ron's face.  "Weasely, are you asking for trouble?"

            "I'm asking for a Wizard's Duel.  Astronomy tower.  Tomorrow evening, after the game.  That is, unless you're…afraid."

            Draco leaned in as close as he could get.  "I accept, Weasel."

            Ron smirked and took a step backwards.  "You'd better show up, Ferret, or it'll be all over school how a Malfoy backed down to a Weasely's challenge."

            Draco took Jackie's arm as he walked away.  "I'll be there."  And with that, he kissed Jackie right on the lips, as if demonstrating the prize of the fight to Weasely, and the fact that no matter who won, she most likely would not change hands as easily as he imagined.

            The kiss only aided in fueling Ron's rage, and he spun on his heels and headed for his dormitory to look up spells for the duel.

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            Jackie:  How come all the chapters split up so nicely on the Plot page, but when I write them, I overlap and split them?

            Agent Blorange:  Because your muse sucks at organization.

            Draco-muse:  No, it's because all the good details and extra scenes that spice up the story line weren't originally accounted for in the summary plot.

            Takeru-muse:  Draco, your attitude did a 180 in that last section, que passa?

            Jackie:  I got a comment about Draco being extremely OOC, and even though that's kind of the point, I wanted to show that he's still the same old Draco Malfoy.  After all, it's that cock-sure attitude that attracted me in the first place.

            Agent Blorange:  That thing about Katy…jealous much?

            Jackie:  Yes.  You can kind of delete that whole paragraph from your mind if it didn't fit into the story line, but it was my stress relief and ventingness at a slut who pissed me off at a party.

            Draco-muse:  Ventingness?

            Jackie:  Don't diss the new wordage. 

            Draco-muse:  O…kay.  Anyway, same old message:  stay tuned and please R&R!


	6. Chapter 6: Sweat and Hormones

            Jackie:  I'm finally better!

            Agent Blorange:  Too bad you're writing's not!

            Draco-muse:  Shut up.  Just shut up.

            Jackie:  I think I did a fair job on this chapter, myself.  I'm not a sports person, as you'll probably be able to tell.  Well, I didn't invent Quidditch.  Or Harry Potter.  That was all J.K. Rowling.  She's the genius; I'm just a girl with an overactive imagination and a thing for an actor 2 years younger than me.

            Takeru-muse:  Cradle robber.

            Draco-muse:  Stop messing with her!  That's it…*Sends out bluebell flames at Agent Blorange and Takeru-muse; both catch on fire and run off screaming*

            Jackie:  Was that really called for?

            Draco-muse:  Don't mess with my woman.  And now…please enjoy!

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Chapter 6:  Sweat and Hormones

The stands of the Quidditch field were packed as usual, with everyone excited about the year's first Gryffindor-Slytherin match.  The Gryffindors especially wanted to see how all their new players were going to work together.  With Jackie, Ron, Seamus, and Ashton, the new 3rd-year keeper, the team was practically brand new.  The nervousness mixed with the normal inter-house tension gave an electric energy to the crisp fall air.

            The game progressed slowly, to say the least.  Neither Harry nor Draco had much to do for a long while, the Snitch being well out of sight.  The same thing, however, couldn't be said for the other players.  Jackie and Katie were showing the Slytherin chasers exactly how teamwork was _supposed_ to work.  In one amazing play, Jackie dove under the Slytherin beater blocking her path, and Katie tossed the ball over his head as Jackie flipped over him and flew _upside down to catch the Quaffle and score the first goal of the game.  By now, Draco realized that flying upside down was one of her specialties.  __She needs to teach me how to do that.  _

            Gryffindor was dominating the boards as far as goals, but there was still no Snitch in sight.  At long last, after almost an hour of play, Draco saw something glittering above Seamus' right shoulder.  Harry spotted it about the same time, and in less than a second both boys were blazing towards the very surprised Beater, who dove downwards out of the way.  As Seamus went down, the Snitch went straight up, followed by Draco, tailed closely by Harry.  Potter, the smaller of the boys, had a clear advantage in maneuvering; Draco, who outweighed his rival by a good 15 pounds of sheer muscle, could shift his weight in a way that provided him a speed advantage.  The Snitch, however, had plans to push them both…it would go into a series of twists and turns, then change direction and fly off in a straight line at top speed, then start twisting again.

            Ron was paying more attention to Jackie and Draco than he was to the Bludgers.  He was still seething from the confrontation in the halls, and was ready for some insurance.  As a Bludger wobbled its way towards Katie, Ron took his opportunity.  He swung his arm back and smacked the Bludger straight at Malfoy's head.  Jackie saw this, and bit her tongue to keep from calling him directly.  She also had figured out the Snitch's pattern by now, and her mind spun trying to come up with a discreet way to help her boyfriend.

            As the Snitch flew towards Jackie, and the Bludger towards Draco, the two lovers met eyes for a brief moment.  Jackie mouthed "three", and took her hands off of the broomstick, shifting her hips to where she was sliding off of the broom.  _Not sliding, Draco thought, __twisting.  That's how she does it!  Then Jackie held up a finger, close to the broom handle so that no one could see it but Draco, then two, then…_

            As her third finger went up, Draco pulled the front of his broom up and shifted his hips to the right.  He immediately found himself upside down, and in the path of the now straight-flying Snitch.  He quickly grabbed the tiny flying orb in his hand just as the Bludger meant for him whizzed over his head and nailed Harry in the side.  Ron winced as Harry fell towards the ground, and then glared at the still upside-down Malfoy, who was now holding up…down…whatever…the fluttering golden ball for the whole arena to see.  The final score:  Gryffindor, 90; Slytherin, 150.  For the first time, Slytherin had beaten Gryffindor.

            All the blood was rushing to Draco's head.  Sure, Jackie had showed him how to turn upside down_.  The question is…how do I get back up?_

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            As the players landed and made their way towards their respective ends of the field, the Slytherin team was more energetic than they had ever been before, especially Malfoy.  Sure, they hadn't scored a single goal…with a Seeker like Draco, who needed to?  Draco was enjoying all of the attention as well…for the first time since the school year began, he wasn't being treated like an outcast by his house members.  The classic Malfoy grin slid across his face as he looked over at Potter, who was rubbing his injured side and sulking along with the rest of the Gryffindor team.

            All except for one.  Jackie was grinning from ear to ear, unable to hide her pride and happiness at the whole game.  Draco stopped to admire her for a moment while she stood on the sidelines away from the rest of the team.  Her hair was tied around itself to form a high ponytail on the back of her head, but strands of hair had gotten loose mid-flight and were now hanging in front of her face.  Her skin glowed with heat and excitement, and Draco noticed for the first time the hundreds of tiny freckles that she tried so hard to hide with various layers of makeup.  _I'll have to suggest that she leave those in sight…I kind of like them on her._  Her Quidditch robes were tight-fitting in certain…areas, because of the general stereotype of the female athlete's body being less-than-endowed, and Draco's eyes couldn't help but pause as they traveled over the tight red silk over her chest.  

Catching himself staring, he forced himself to look back at her face, where he met her gleaming eyes once again.  She broke out into a broad grin, and Draco's trademark smirk softened into a smile as he made his way in her direction.  She also began making her way across the field, and started jogging to meet him.  As they met on the sidelines, Jackie threw her arms around him, much to the surprise of the many spectators on both sides.  Draco wrapped his arms around her waist, not caring who saw them anymore, but just wanting to be with her.  

Jackie nuzzled her head against his neck.  "Sweetheart, they're suspecting things…" she sing-singed quietly.  

Draco laughed softly, and then reached up to gently tilt her chin up towards his face.  He bent his face close to hers.  "Let people say we're in love," he whispered before closing the gap between them and drawing her into a well-deserved victory kiss.  

The gasps and murmurs from the crowd grew louder, but Draco and Jackie felt only each other.  Draco pulled Jackie in closer, and she responded by running her hands up Draco's back to his shoulders.   The rest of the world seemed to fade away as Draco's tongue ran slowly across Jackie's lips, and her lips parted gently to invite him into her mouth.  It was almost too cliché, but both felt as if fireworks were exploding around them as the kiss continued.

Had it not been for the thunderbolt that was Ron Weasely, who knows how long the kiss would have lasted.  However, anger got the best of the scorned redhead, and he took off towards the couple faster than Harry or Seamus could catch him.  Jackie heard him barreling towards them, and quickly broke off the kiss and turned to place herself between Ron and Draco.  Ron simply reached out and grabbed her arm, glared at Malfoy, hissed "Astronomy tower.  Tonight," and headed back towards the locker rooms with Jackie in tow, fighting every step of the way.

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            "Are you sure you want to do this, Draco?"

            "I have to.  I'm not going to let that Weasel make a fool out of me and take advantage of you."

            It was an hour before curfew, and Jackie and Draco were waiting for Ron to show up in the Astronomy tower.  Jackie was nervous…she didn't know if they could trust Ron in his current emotional state to fight fairly.  Draco was only thinking of protecting the girl he loved…the mixture of adrenaline and testosterone coursing through his system was too strong to allow him to think clearly.

            Voices were heard making their way up the stairs of the Astronomy tower, and soon Ron and Harry both came into view.  Ron looked about ready to kill someone; Jackie prayed that he didn't have the knowledge to do so.  Harry stood behind Ron for once, and glared at both Malfoy and Jackie.  "Alright," Ron said, his voice deep and husky from the same hormonal flood that plagued Draco.  "Let's finish this."

            Both assumed the traditional dueling stance, with Harry acting as Ron's second and Jackie as Draco's.  Ron was the first to throw a curse, and soon the two boys were throwing everything they had at each other, from Leg-locker curses to some much more serious (and slightly illegal) moves.  Draco's mind was sharper, and he was able to think things out as he and Ron fought.  Ron wasn't thinking as clearly as he should have been, but his hatred was making him a more vicious and merciless fighter.

            There came finally a point in the duel where Draco felt that Ron was becoming too dangerous.  He quickly maneuvered his way towards Ron's side, temporarily leaving the larger boy's line of vision.  "Expelliarmus!" he shouted as the disarming spell flew towards Ron's wand arm.  Ron heard Draco at his side, and before the disarming spell could reach him, he pointed his wand at Malfoy's stomach.  "Dolar maladictio!" he screamed, and a bolt of red lightning burst out of the wand just before it was knocked out of his hand.

            Draco was not quick enough to evade the final spell, and he was hit with an excruciating bolt of pain as the curse went straight through him.  He doubled up on the ground, holding his stomach as the wind was knocked out of him.  Waves of searing pain hit one after another as he sucked air into his burning lungs.  Jackie immediately rushed to his side to try and help him up, kneeling in front of him and rubbing back gently to try and ease the pain.

            Ron stepped over to where she knelt and took her hand in his, almost crushing it from the force of his grip.  "I may have been disarmed first, but he's not around to defend his prize."  Jackie tried to pull away from Ron, but he simply laughed and yanked her into a standing position.  Draco watched helplessly as Ron forced Jackie into a crushing kiss, but was surprised when Ron's eyes flew open, and he backed away from her.

            That is, until he saw that Jackie had brought her knee up to a place that effectively "disarmed" Ron again.

            Ron's knees buckled as he sunk to the ground, and Jackie returned to Draco's side.  "Prick.  Are you okay?"

            Draco opened his mouth, but just then another wave hit him in the stomach, and he chocked out a small cry of pain.  She resumed rubbing his back, until he managed to get out the words "Hospital wing".  She helped get him to his feet, and gently guided him along the stairwell, leaving Ron and Harry to deal with their problems.

            Every few steps, Draco buckled with pain as the curse continued to affect him.  Jackie wrapped her around his waist and braced herself against the wall to prevent the two of them from falling down the stairs, all the while whispering encouragements to her ailing lover.  They finally reached the bottom of the stairs, and were almost halfway to the Hospital Wing, when Draco collapsed onto the floor, and his weight caused Jackie to fall as well.  The last thing he saw before the world went black was Jackie's face gazing anxiously into his, and her hand reaching out to stroke his cheek.

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            Jackie:  Duhn duhn DUHN!  Cliff hanger!

            Agent Blorange:  Yeah right.  You'll stay up until you get the next chapter written, I know you.

            Draco-muse:  Don't be so sure, it's already 11:30 and you're not completely well yet young lady!

            Jackie:  But I don't have school tomorrow!

            Draco-muse:  *Sigh* Fine, go ahead.

            Jackie:  YAY!  And please R&R, okay, I love you, bubye!


	7. Chapter 7: Happy Birthday

            Jackie:  Maybe I should start to actually make this fit the Rated-R genre now, huh?

            Agent Blorange:  I think I'm going to be sick.

            Draco-muse:  Heh heh…I think I'm going to enjoy this chapter.

            Takeru-muse:  You promised me action long ago.  Nothing.  Now, HE gets some before me?

            Jackie:  That's the way it goes.  I'm not getting any either, don't feel left out.  Okay, I don't own Harry Potter, but I can't wait to own a copy of HPCS DVD and the new book coming out in JUNE!!  So close, and yet so far…

            Draco-muse:  Now, please enjoy!

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Chapter 7:  Happy Birthday

Draco's eyes fluttered open slowly, the pain of the curse now a memory.  He looked around, and realized that he was in a bed in the Hospital Wing, although he didn't remember actually making it there in the first place.  He looked at the small cart next to the bed and saw an empty potion bottle, and then noticed a bitter taste in his mouth, and figured that Madame Pomfrey had given him some God-awful antidote to whatever curse Weasely had put him under.

            "Feeling better sweetie?"           

            Draco turned to the other side of the bed, and his eyes met two very concerned, very sleepy-looking blue pools.  He smiled softly.  "I feel fine.  How'd I get here?"

            She tilted her head sideways and smirked.  "Come now, you think that I'm just going to leave you in the middle of the hallway?  You really distrust me that much?"  Draco shook his head.  "Of course not.  I'm sorry I doubted you."

            Jackie reached over and took Draco's hand.  "That's alright.  I had to go get Filch to get you the rest of the way there.  I love you, but I'm not that strong."

            Draco laughed for a second, then stopped.  "You…what?"  _Did she really just say that she…or was she just kidding?_

            Jackie opened her mouth, but no sound came out as she realized what she had just let slip.  Her face turned three different shades of red as she tried to come up with some way to explain herself.  Luckily for her, Madame Pomfrey chose that moment to check up on her patient, delaying any awkward conversations to a later time.  "Well, it's good to see that you're up, Mr. Malfoy.  And relatively unharmed, except for some minor bruising.  Which I can't say about your opponent.  Miss Ashmore, I don't know where you learned self-defense, but you were taught well!  I don't think that he'll be pulling a stunt like that again."

            Jackie blushed, and Draco winced just imagining the damage that her strong leg muscles inflicted on that delicate part of Ron's anatomy.  Madame Pomfrey finished tidying up the bedside tray, and then turned to Draco and Jackie.  "Alright, I think it's time for two 6th years to be heading back to their dormitories.  And I mean your SEPARATE dorms, alright?"

            Draco and Jackie looked at each other and smirked as they were shooed out of the Hospital Wing.  They had to split up now, because the dorms were on opposite sides of the school.  Draco and Jackie simply held hands for a minute, standing in the middle of the hallway.  Jackie was actually avoiding Draco's eye contact for once, afraid of his reaction.  "Well," she said, trying to end the night and hoping that all would be forgotten by morning, "I'd better head over to Gryffindor Tower before Mione makes up some story about us…"

            Draco placed a single finger on Jackie's lips, signaling her that she didn't need an excuse.  He bent down and quickly kissed her, and then turned and walked away towards the dungeons, all the while thinking about what she had said.

            _"I love you, but I'm not that strong…"          _

_            "I love you…"_

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Soft sunlight filtered in through the dormitory windows of Gryffindor tower, falling gently over the red and gold sheets of the four poster beds in the room.  Jackie stirred slowly, and opened her eyes tentatively before arching her back and stretching out her legs and arms in a dog-like motion.  Before she had a chance to fall asleep again, she quickly slipped out of bed and made her way to her trunk, and extracted a semi-clean robe, as well as her favorite worn jeans and a Hardin-Simmons University sweatshirt (A/n- I'm not excited about college.  Nope, not worried, or excited, or…terrified…) to wear that day.  _Might as well be comfortable…I'm not exactly trying to attract a member of the opposite sex…and Draco should know better than say anything…if he even wants to speak to me ever again…_

Suddenly, Jackie heard a familiar rustling sound at the window, and turned to see her pet, Brad, hovering outside the window.  She smiled and started to the window to let him in, until someone else noticed him.

            "AAAAH!"  Hermione shrieked.  "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?"

            The other girls were now sitting bolt upright in their beds, pointing and stammering about the "humongous man-eating" bird fluttering outside.  Jackie rolled her eyes and lifted the windowpane, allowing Brad to swoop inside.  He landed with a screech on Jackie's trunk.  "Uh, duh!  Haven't you girls ever seen a bald eagle before?"

            Now that Hermione had stopped shrieking, she leaned forward and examined "Brad" more closely.  Sure enough, he was a beautiful creature, with glossy white feathers on his head and neck, with reddish brown feathers on the rest of his body that almost matched Jackie's hair.  She was still nervous, though, because Brad's talons were impressive to say the least.  "I thought that they were endangered," was all that the frazzled girl was able to say.

            "They are.  However, we got him from a rehabilitation program.  He'd been caught in power lines, and they didn't think that he'd ever be able to fly again.  Well, there's very little that magic can't heal if you know how to use it.  So now, Brad can fly again, we've got a messenger and pet bigger and stronger than any owl, and best of all, he's less likely to be bothered by hunters or zoo catchers, because there's a huge fine attached to the capture or injuring of a bald eagle…not to mention jail time."  Jackie ran two fingers down the side of his neck, carefully avoiding the powerful beak.  (Just because it was her pet, didn't mean that he wasn't a wild animal).  Brad cocked his head and screeched again, softer this time.

            It wasn't until everything had calmed down and the other three girls had vacated the room that Jackie noticed the package that Brad had dropped next to her.  It was wrapped in several different colored papers, and she smiled softly.  _They remembered…_

            Jackie gingerly opened the package, and braced herself for any surprises her friends may have had in store for her.  Instead, she found inside several letters, and many smaller packages.  She opened the first letter.

            "HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACKIE!"  The letter screamed in the voices of her friends back home.  She laughed as she read the scrawly handwriting of her wizarding and muggle friends alike.

            _Jackie,_

_            Happy Birthday from __America__!  Do they have you speaking in a British accent yet?  Bet they do…you're a born mimic.  We all miss you a lot!  -Manny_

_            And what's the big idea?  Only telling Melody about this new boy toy of yours?  How rude!  It's like you don't trust us!  Just kidding, we love you anyway.  -Kyrenda_

_            Well, we all thought and thought about what to get you for your birthday, and we decided that you should smell as good as you look for your new boyfriend…Draco, is that it?  Ooh, Dragon boy.  Fucked him yet?  Just kidding!  -Steven_

_            You have to use all of these for the next time you see him…it'll drive him nuts, or at the very least, make him hungry…for you!  Or ice cream.  I wanted ice cream personally.  –Melody_

Jackie couldn't help but feel a little homesick as she read the notes her friends had sent her.  Manny, of course, didn't mention Draco…they had an understanding of sorts.  Kyrenda was probably genuinely upset that she didn't tell her as well as Melody, but it's hard to send messages to muggles from a wizarding school, and Kyrenda knows that.  Steven…what a perv.  Melody…probably the closest thing to a best friend she had left, since she drifted away from most of her muggle friends as the years went by.  Melody was a year behind her, but the younger witch was wise beyond her years in certain matters.

            Jackie gave a closer inspection to the various smaller packages inside the larger one.  She pulled out, first, a set of Strawberries and Cream shampoo and conditioner from Manny…_Strawberries for your strawberry hair.  Next was a bottle of body wash that smelled like vanilla from Kyrenda…__To match the ivory white of your skin.  Next, a tube of watermelon-scented hand lotion from Steven…_To match your…heh heh…you know…those._  From Melody, she received several tubes of cherry lip gloss…_To match those ruby red lips.  _Finally, at the bottom, she found a bottle of homemade cinnamon perfume from everyone collectively…_because we know how much you love cinnamon.__

            Collecting her presents, she grabbed her clothes and made her way to the bathroom.  _I think it's time for a shower…_

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            Draco slipped out of the dorms quietly, so as not to wake any of his still-sleeping housemates.  He wasn't able to sleep much that night…he couldn't stop thinking about what Jackie had said in the Hospital Wing.  _She said she loved me…was it just nerves, or was she just joking?  How can I tell?  Was she serious?  Everything's moving so quickly…I have to know what she meant…_

He wandered aimlessly around the halls for quite awhile, lost in thought.  He wasn't aware where his own feet were carrying him, until he looked up and made a startling discovery…  "I'm lost."  It was true…the stairway that he had started to climb had shifted as he ascended, turning him in a completely different direction.  He looked around for something, anything familiar.  "How embarrassing.  Lost in your own school.  I've only lived here, what, five and a half years?"

            "Did you say you were lost, dearie?"

            A woman's voice startled Draco and he spun to find the speaker.  He saw no one, except for the portrait of a rather large woman in a frilly pink dress.  "Y…yes.  I know it's silly, but…"

            "It's not silly at all," the Fat Lady interrupted him.  "But for future reference, you're at Gryffindor Tower."

            Draco took a step backwards.  Had he really never been to the enemy's dormitories?  He knew that Potter and Weasely had been to the Slytherin dormitories.  It was no secret that the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws were often seen in each other's common rooms.  And yet, he had never been to another dorm.  The thought shocked him, and somewhat amused him.  "Well, thank you, I can probably find my way back now."

            "Wait!"

            _That wasn't the Lady's voice, Draco thought.  He recognized it immediately.  He turned slowly, and saw that the portrait had been swung open, and a small, feminine hand was beckoning him inside.  He smirked.  _Maybe fate just decided it was time for some payback to Potter and Weasely for that stunt second year.__

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            Once inside the Gryffindor common room, Draco looked around for the hand that had beckoned him inside.  The room was strangely empty, and he couldn't find her anywhere.  "Hello?  Where are you?"

            "Right behind you."

            The soft whisper was so close that Draco nearly jumped out of his skin.  He turned his head to see Jackie leaning over his shoulder, smiling gently.  "How is it that you never fail to scare the hell out of me?"  He reached up behind him and ran his fingers through her damp hair.  _She must have just gotten out of the shower.  "Where's everyone else?"_

            Jackie walked slowly around to face Draco.  "You've let time get away from you.  Everyone else is at breakfast."  Draco glanced at the large clock against the wall.  Sure enough, it was time for everyone to be in the Great Hall for the first meal of the day.  "Oh, and why aren't you there?" he asked, taking her hands in his.

            "Oh, I was just trying out the presents my friends sent me for my birthday."

            Draco's mouth fell open and his cheeks flushed red.  "It's…it's your birthday?  Why didn't you tell me?  Oh man, I feel stupid, you probably did tell me and I forgot, didn't you?  I'm so sorry…"   

            It was Jackie's turn to silence Draco, placing a finger on his lips gently.  "I didn't tell anyone.  No one knows but you, and my friends in America.  In fact, the letter they sent me seemed to talk more about you than me.  The loner finally has a companion."  She smirked, in a way that surprisingly mimicked Draco's trademark grin.  He mirrored her expression.  "I will find a way to make this your best birthday ever.  But for now, we should get to breakfast before the Golden Gryffindors start thinking that I'm raping you or something."

            Jackie smiled and rubbed her hands over Draco's shoulders as she turned to grab her purse.  Before she walked out, she leaned over his shoulder and whispered, "You can't rape the willing."  With a quick kiss on the side of his face, she was out of the portrait, leaving a very shocked Draco Malfoy standing alone in the Gryffindor common room, a silly grin plastered across his blushing face.  (A/n- I can't believe I just said that.  I've heard that phrase too often in reference to something else.  Please know that I'm kicking my own ass right now from the shame.)

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            Breakfast went on as usual.  Ron placed as much distance as he could between himself and Jackie, almost afraid that she would attack him again.  Harry and Hermione also kept their distance, shocked and appalled at the events at both the Quidditch match and the following night.  Jackie really didn't seem to care, though…what she did care about was the constant buzz of gossip humming in the air, and all the glances and glares pointed in hers and Draco's direction.  _Don't these people have anything else to talk about?_

            At the Slytherin table, Draco was barely picking at his food.  Now he was more worried than ever.  _Was she coming on to me?  Of course she was!  First, she says she loves me, and then this…plus, it's her birthday, what am I going to do for her?  I can't just do nothing!  I can't believe she was coming on to me…_

All thoughts were quieted as the daily rustle of feathers filled the Great Hall as the owls delivered the mail.  Jackie looked up and immediately recognized Melody's beautiful grey owl, Eliza.  She landed on Jackie's arm and dropped another package in her lap, and hooted happily as Jackie rustled the feathers on the back of her head.  "Yes, I missed you too, Eliza.  I miss Melody too.  You go rest in the owlery now, I'll have a message for you to take back in a little while, okay?"  Eliza nipped at her finger affectionately and flew off with the other owls.

            Jackie inspected the package.  It read, "From Dustin, For Jackie and her Boy Toy, have fun tonight!"  Jackie rolled her eyes and cautiously peeked inside the box.  Seeing its contents, she sat up and quickly stuffed the box into her bag.  _Oh yes, _she thought, _we will be having fun tonight!_

She took one last sip of her orange juice before heading up to her room once again, thinking that she should probably put on some nicer clothes.  After all, she and Draco would be having a little party that night…

            (A/n- There's nothing dirty intended there.  You'll see what I mean later.)

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            Draco was sitting by one of the fountains outside later that afternoon, working on his Potions homework.  He had decided that thinking about what Jackie had said was just going to confuse him, so he tried to clear his mind by doing some assignments in order to speed up his brain function.

            Suddenly, a small grey owl that he had seen in the Great Hall earlier dropped down next to him and hooted.  He saw that she carried a small piece of parchment in her beak, as well as a letter tied with red ribbon around her leg.  He gingerly took the parchment, and recognized Jackie's small, crisp handwriting…

            _Meet me in the foyer after dinner tonight._

He smiled and shook his head, tossing out all of the not-so-decent thoughts that had been flooding his head that morning.  He started to scribble a reply, when the grey owl hooted and lifted her leg, indicating that the other note was for him as well.  He untied the small ribbon, and saw that this note was not from Jackie.

            _Hey dude._

_            If you're reading this, then Eliza's figured out that you're Draco.  My name's Melody, and I'm one of Jackie's friends.  As you may or may not know, today is Jackie's birthday.  She talks about you a lot to me, but everyone else just found out about you recently.  Anyways, in case you need some hints for what to get her, just know this…Dustin sent her something for the two of you to share tonight, at least try it.  You'll like it.  Second, she likes contact.  We're a very touchy-feely group over here, whether or not you've noticed, so get close.  Third…flowers.  Don't care what kind, she just loves flowers.  No candy.  I know it sounds weird, but she is weird.  She's got her reasons.  Finally…by the way, this is Manny talking now, I'm just writing for him…  "If you hurt her, I swear to God I will find you and you will know what true pain is.  And no one will ever find your body."  All that said, have fun tonight!_

_            -Melody and Manny_

            Draco swallowed hard as he read Manny's final message to him, but he had to laugh at some of the other things.  He also knew how he wanted to spend her birthday.  He finished writing a reply to Jackie, and also wrote a quick "Thank you" to her American friends, and then set off for the lake.

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            "You finished quick."

            "I'm a fast eater when I need to be."

            Jackie and Draco met up shortly after dinner began in the small antechamber of the Great Hall.  Jackie started to walk towards the library, but Draco put his hands over her eyes and steered her the other way, out towards the grounds.  "Draco, what are you doing?" she asked, giggling.  "Shh.  It's a surprise.  Do you have Dustin's present?"

            "Yes, it's right here in my pur…how did you know about Dustin's present?  Or Dustin, for that matter?"

            Draco leaned close to her neck, and his hot breath on her shoulder against the cold night air made Jackie shiver.  "Your friends have informed me of some vital information."  Draco's eyes fluttered shut as he pressed his lips to her long, slender neck, feeling her slow, steady breathing as he moved down to her shoulders.  _They were right, she does like contact.  I'm not complaining._

He continued to walk along behind her, covering her eyes, for several minutes, indulging in a slow worshiping of her neck or shoulders every so often.  Jackie thought that she was going to burst with happiness…she was beginning to feel lightheaded from her deep breaths, and strange new feelings were stirring in the pit of her stomach that felt like a mixture of excitement and tension.  Every contact between Draco's soft lips and the delicate skin of her neck left trails of fire burning wherever he touched.  Finally, he removed his hands from her eyes, and Jackie found herself staring out over the dark waters of the lake, the full moon reflecting eerily in the rippling waves.  

She drew a quick breath in surprise, as she also saw a soft blanket spread on the ground, on the center of which a beautiful bouquet of flowers was positioned.  She knelt down and saw a card attached to the flowers, which varied from deep red roses to delicate white carnations and every shade of red and pink in between.  It was written in Draco's slanted, elongated handwriting, one simple phrase that made her heart skip a beat…_"I love you more than you will ever know."_  A tear slid down her cheek, and she raised her hands to her mouth, unable to speak.  

Draco slid down gently next to her, and delicately wiped the tear off of her cheek with a slow, burning motion of his hand against her face.  She shook her head and smiled at him.  "Let's open Dustin's present, shall we?"  She reached into her purse (which Malfoy found, was one of those magical bottomless ones) and extracted a Styrofoam package, containing two magically frozen red drinks, smelling strongly of both strawberries and rum.  She handed him one, smiling devilishly.  "Strawberry-mango daiquiris.  The only kind of alcohol I can stand.  I sometimes think that it's Dustin's mission in life to get me drunk."  She took a sip from her glass, but the glass appeared to be just as full as before.  "Apparently with a bottomless charm on them.  He really wants us smashed."

Draco sniffed his drink again.  He'd had alcohol before, but only the odd beer on a dare, and some champagne at some of his parents' social gatherings.  As he took a tentative drink, the flavor of the fruits almost completely covered the taste of the rum, but leaving just enough flavour to give him a slight head rush.  He definitely enjoyed this more that anything he'd ever had before.  He took another drink, and set the glass down on the blanket.  "Of course, you realize that if we're caught, we're in big trouble."  Jackie set hers down as well.  "Do you really think that we'll be missed enough for someone to come looking for us?"  Draco pondered this for a second.  "You have a point."  He picked up his glass again and made a gesture towards Jackie before taking another drink.  The two were definitely starting to feel the effects of the rum on their systems…both were slightly tipsy by the time Jackie crawled into Draco's lap.

Draco stroked a strand of red hair out of her eyes, pondering what to say.  "Um, are you going back home for Christmas vacation?" he asked, hoping it was an innocent enough question, in contrast to the many dirty things the alcohol was making him see in his mind.  "Yep.  I've got to take some finals, and then my friends and I are just going to enjoy the break together…do you want to come?"

Draco hadn't expected that.  "Wha…what?  You're inviting me to come home with you?  To America?"  Jackie laughed and shook her head.  "To San Antonio.  It sounds so weird when you say America.  But, that's beside the point… yes, I'm inviting you home with me, that is, if you want to come.  My friends would love to meet you…and I wouldn't mind your company during the season of love."  Draco tilted Jackie's face towards his, and stared deeply into her eyes, which looked even more mysterious as the moonlight reflected off of the light blue center and darkened the ring around the iris.  Her pupils dilated as she gazed at him, and a soft smile lit Draco's face.  "I would be honoured, my lady."

Draco and Jackie melted into a soft kiss, and Draco inhaled the sweet scents of strawberries, cinnamon, and vanilla.  It almost made him hungry, even though he had just eaten.  His tongue explored her mouth, tasting again the sweet liquor that they had just partaken in.  Maybe it was just that, or maybe something more, that sparked the fire that was burning in their bodies at the moment.  Maybe it was the memory of last night, Draco fighting for and winning Jackie's honor, and Jackie standing protectively by him even as Weasely tried to take her away.  Maybe it was the fact that it was a very special day for them…Jackie was finally 17, and the knowledge that what she and him wanted to do was now "legal" both in San Antonio and Britain.  Maybe a combination of all the events of the past 3 months put together.  But on that moonlit night by the lake, seen only by the basketball-sized eye of the Giant Squid, everything fell into place.

Draco slowly leaned Jackie back against the soft blanket, all the while deepening the kiss to the point where their lungs burned for air and their lips were sore from pressure.  His hands began an exploration of first her shoulders, then down over her soft chest, moving slowly over the delicate mounds, and leaving trails of fire as he went.  Jackie ran her hands down Draco's chest, and then up again under his shirt, her fingers lingering over each sculpted muscle.  Draco reached the tail of her shirt, and slipped a hand underneath the soft material to trace circles across the flesh of her stomach.  His hands continued to creep upwards until his fingers brushed over her breasts through the thin material of her brassiere, eliciting a soft moan from his lover.  Draco looked deeply into Jackie's eyes, bent close to her ear.  "I love you, Jacquillynne Ashmore."

She closed her eyes and whispered, "I love you too, Draco Malfoy."

As the moon rose higher over the Hogwarts grounds, the lovers were silhouetted against the picture-perfect background, a few sleepy birds the only witnesses to their union.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Agent Blorange:  You are truly evil.  I like the way you think!

Takeru-muse:  *Smirking* And she leaves it at that!  Oh, no action for Draco-muse tonight!

Draco-muse:  At least I got some implied action.  *Takeru-muse glares at him.  Draco-muse's turn to smirk*

Jackie:  I tried.  I really did.  I've been working on this all day.  I couldn't bring myself to actually write a full scene.  I think my mind was scarred earlier this year…*Shudders at bad memories*

Draco-muse:  Don't think about that, Jackie.  You're safe with your friends, he can't hurt you any more.

Jackie:  Well, please forgive my failure, and stay tuned!


	8. Chapter 8: The Adventure Begins

Jackie: Wow...did I actually update this story?

Agent Blorange: I believe you did. Although I don't know why.

Draco-muse: Yay! Non-slashy fun!

Takeru-muse: I told you she'd do it to you.

Jackie: I don't own Harry Potter, but I do own Jackie. As much as I've been working on Beating the Odds, I really missed this story more. BtO was more of an experiment that got out of hand...this was my baby. So, I thought I'd start working on it, too.

Agent Blorange: And she left me in this story, but kicked me out of the one I liked. Women.

Draco-muse: Serves you right. Anyways...enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 8: The Adventure Begins...

* * *

The days grew colder and shorter as winter descended upon the school. Students began donning their scarves and gloves on a regular basis, and fewer students wandered outside the school between classes. Most of the students shrugged off the cold, only complaining a little when taking classes in the chilled dungeons.

On this day, however, one sixth-year student unaccustomed to the temperature sat in potions class, huddled below her robes, shivering pitifully. Class had yet to begin, and Jackie was taking all the time she could before she would have to remove her gloves and scarf when Snape came in. To make matters worse for her, Draco hadn't arrived yet, and the icy stares from Harry, Ron, and Hermione only served to make her feel colder. Teeth chattering, she pulled her robes tighter.

"What's the matter? British winters too cold for the American?"

Jackie turned only her eyes to Hermione, who delivered that comment with a smug smirk on her face, and sneered. Harry and Ron laughed quietly at her side. "Why is everyone on about American? We have more than one weather system, you know, and you wouldn't be laughing if you were in Alaska. However, it is far too cold for the South Texan, but I'd like to see you survive my summers with that blanket of hair on you."

Turning back towards the door, Jackie shook her head slightly. She was really tired of people (including Draco) regarding her as simply an American, as if they were all the same, but shrugged it off this time because it was just too damn cold to think of a good comeback. Hearing snickering behind her, she turned her head to glare at the Golden Trio giggling like schoolgirls at her.

Suddenly, warmth spread over her waist and back as strong arms wrapped around her from behind. Melting into the sensation, she sighed and leaned into the embrace. "Cold, are we?" asked the friendly voice behind her. Jackie looked straight up into Draco's smiling face. "Nah, I just like to shiver, it burns calories, you know."

Draco smirked and bent close to her ear. "There are better ways to burn calories...and warm up at the same time," he whispered, placing a gentle kiss behind her ear, causing Jackie to shiver for a completely different reason. But as soon as he had appeared, she was left cold again as he kissed her goodbye and strode confidently to his seat, just in time for Snape to appear from his office.

* * *

"You know, this is the first holiday I've looked forward to in years," Draco confided as he and Jackie made their way to the coaches that would deliver them at the train station. "Before, it was always father's parties and criticism." Jackie shifted her bag to her other shoulder so that she could put an arm around Draco's waist. "Well, this time it'll be all fun and games and teenage parties and caroling. It'll be great, I promise."

Draco cocked an eyebrow. "Caroling? You're not going to make me sing, are you?" She looked at him, shocked. "You've never been Christmas caroling before? Oh my gosh, you're a deprived child." He laughed, never having heard himself described as deprived before.

As they loaded their bags into the carriage, Draco slipped his arms protectively around her waist and lifted her gently onto the stairs, letting his hand slip down to her hips as she ascended. After he finished admiring the view of her backside, he quickly climbed inside and shut the door behind him. They watched out the window as other students rushed by to find unoccupied carriages, laughing and talking about Christmas gifts and family as they hurried about. When they finally started moving, Jackie laid her head on Draco's shoulder, and he in turn placed his arm around her shoulder as the cart bounced along the cobbled road.

Staring out the window at the silent snowfall, Jackie's eyes lit up and she smiled. "You know, this is the first time I've ever seen it snow," she said quietly. Draco looked at her, shocked. "And you say I'm deprived. No snow in Ame...San Antonio?" Jackie rolled her eyes. "Thank you for catching yourself. I'll bet the temperature isn't even below freezing. It only gets down that low around late January, and it's really dry during the winter." Draco looked out the window, trying to imagine a winter without white blankets of snow and ice covering everything in sight. "When we get back here," he said, squeezing her waist, "I'm going to take you out and teach you how to build a snowman and make snow angels. That's information you can't live without."

Laughing, she ran a hand through Draco's now shoulder-length white-blonde hair. "I already have my snow angel."

Snuggling closer, Draco stole a deep kiss as the carriage headed towards the station.

* * *

"Explain to me how this works again."

Jackie laughed as Draco watched another plane take off from the London airport with a worried expression. "How can they fly without magic?" he asked for probably the fifth time. "I told you," she said, putting a hand on his arm, "they use jet engines to get up to speed, then air pressure underneath the wings hold them up. It's perfectly safe, even without magic." Draco didn't look too sure, and looked in his bag once again to make sure his broomstick was still there, shrunken and unharmed, just in case. Jackie giggled and shook her head. "You disillusioned your stuff, right?"

Draco nodded. They had both put charms on their things to keep them from appearing on the carry-on x-ray machine, therefore avoiding some awkward scenes. Instead of a myriad of miniature items, they would see only a few changes of clothing and a toothbrush.

Jackie looked Draco over once again. He was wearing the same outfit that he was wearing when he first met her...black t-shirt and dark, tight jeans. She bit back a growl at his appearance...she really loved that outfit on him. She herself was wearing a tight UTSA Choir Camp shirt and a pair of black slacks. They had a long 15-hour flight ahead of them, and she wanted to be comfortable.

Draco, however, was anything but comfortable and relaxed. "How is it supposed to stay in the air for fifteen hours?"

Jackie sighed. "It doesn't. We stop once in Dublin and once in Chicago before we get so San Antonio. Refueling and switching planes. Stop worrying. If you fall out, I'll catch you."

"You can fall out?" Draco asked, wide-eyed. Jackie slapped her forehead. "Why do I bother?"

* * *

Several long hours, two changeovers, and countless peanuts later, Draco walked shakily down the ramp off the plane. He felt rather dizzy after sitting for the majority of the day. Looking at his watch, he saw that it was already 11:30 at night, so he expected to go back to the boarding house and sleep the rest of the night. He was shocked, however, to find that his eyes were assaulted by the bright South Texas sun, and he looked at Jackie, confused. She, too, was shading her eyes and yawning, but muttered, "I hate time zones."

"Why is it daylight?" he asked, confused. Jackie glanced over at the large digital clock on the wall, which read 5:30PM CST. "We crossed lots of time zones, so it's only early evening here. This means, unfortunately, that we are obligated to let everyone fawn over us and drag us around town until midnight before we get to sleep." Jackie whined a little, and Draco mimicked the sound...this was going to be a long day.

Walking further into the lobby, Draco saw quite a few people holding up signs with different names on them. "I guess lots of people are coming here for the holidays," he said. Jackie smirked and rolled her eyes. "San Antonio is the world's largest tourist trap. Christmas and summertime are the worst times to live here, believe me, I know. Touristas everywhere...mangling Spanish words, praising a lost battle, and generally annoying all the residents..."

At that point, Draco noticed that one sign was glowing. And the letters were spinning around. "Is that them?" he asked, pointing.

Jackie looked over, and saw a group of people holding a charmed sign. Three guys...two large football-player-shaped guys, one short and one tall, and one scrawny guy with bright orangey-brown spiked hair and a glazed look in his eyes. There were also two girls...a tall blonde girl waving, and a shorter Chinese girl jumping up and down. Grinning ear to ear, Jackie broke into a run, dragging Draco along by the wrist.

"WELCOME HOME, JACKIE!"

* * *

Jackie: I'll leave it there for now. I have lots of fun ideas for what can go on during the holidays...but it's after 1 AM CST and I'm tired.

Agent Blorange: zzzz...

Draco-muse: ((Shakes head sadly)) Take our advice, kids. Don't do drugs or you end up like him.

Takeru-muse: Better than ending up like you.

Jackie: I'm too tired to stop the fight, so just Stay Tuned!


End file.
